Harmony
by Cupzy
Summary: It has been three years since 'The Queen' was banished from Equestria. Shadow Storm and Twilight Sparkle have officially started a family, and everything has been perfect for the last three years. But let it be known, that a Necromanecer never stays out of trouble for long.
1. Every Story Has A Beginning

**Hello again! That's another empty space on my page of stories filled up! Anyway, new story, that's a thing. I've been wanting to continue Redemption for some time now, and I'm feeling rather good about finally starting this story up. Anyway, enough of my rambling. Enjoy! Also, I very much doubt that you'll understand much of this story unless you read Redemption first. So yeah... Go do that thing.**

It was a quiet day in Ponyville. The streets were near empty, with only a few Ponies stepping out of their homes, the shallow sound of birds creating small songs with melodious tweets. It had been quiet like this in the last few days, no important news or upcoming celebration presented any kind of excitement-fodder for anypony. Not even Pinkie Pie seemed to throw as many parties anymore, travelers were so rare, and Ponies who moved in quickly merged in with the quiet atmosphere. Nopony was complaining (Well, Pinkie Pie was.) about the quietness, and nopony seemed to care, either. Twilight Sparkle wasn't complaining, all the peace and quiet had allowed her time with her precious books, still hungry for knowledge. She had read every book in the library at least twice, but she always seemed to extract more information from them every time. She had studied magic to an extent where she was almost as powerful as Celestia herself when it came to casting spells, possibly even more-so. However, her endeavors in magical knowledge wasn't focused on her own benefit anymore. When Equestria's fate was once again hanging in the balance, Twilight had came out of it with more than she had bargained for. And frankly, she couldn't be more excited. She sat on a small pillow nestled close to the fireplace, the warmth provided warding off the cold interior of the library. Next to her sat a young colt, nestled into her side, staring intently at the book Twilight was levitating in front of her. This colt's name was Starstruck, and he meant everything to Twilight.

Starstruck had just finished his first few months of school, and his results were exceptional. Twilight remembered how big her smile was when she read Starstruck's report as she sat in the kitchen. His magical prowess showed incredible potential, greatly reflecting how Twilight was when she was a filly. Starstruck had inherited much of her skills, including her personality and her extreme lust for knowledge. Starstruck was Twilight's beloved son, and he was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Seconded only to her dear husband; Shadow Storm. The stallion who had personally slain one of the most dangerous threats to Equestria, and the stallion who had captured her heart a few days before. It had been years since that catastrophic event, and Storm had only just started to merge into society successfully. The pony in question was currently asleep in the upstairs bedroom, tired from his recent study session with Twilight and Starstruck. The fireplace successfully burnt through one of the many logs that resided behind the small iron gate, causing the fire to grow in size and crackle accordingly.

"Hey, Mom?" Starstruck asked, music to Twilight's ears as she looked at her son with a smile.

"Yes, Star?" Twilight asked.

"Yesterday, when you and Dad were cleaning the library out, how come I saw him levitating a book?" Star asked curiously. Storm was originally part of an evil cult a few years ago, the same cult led by the Alicorn known only as 'The Queen' A pony who wanted to seize control of Equestria itself, and the Alicorn that Storm had slain years ago. Storm was a Pegasus, and thus his magical capabilities were limited to interacting with the weather. Due to his extensive training as a colt, Storm had somehow managed to procure the gift of magic through intense studying and concentration. He wasn't as powerful as an ordinary Unicorn, but he could manipulate objects with general ease. Twilight and Storm mutually agreed on never telling Star about the events that occurred a few years prior to his birth, in fear of him seeing Storm as some kind of monster. And thus, he never knew about Storm's magical capabilities until now.

"...Well... Your father is a very special Pony. He was born with the gift to use magic. It isn't very powerful, and you are probably more magically adept than he is, but he can levitate objects easily." Twilight explained, her heart felt like it was being stabbed with daggers as she uttered the lie to her son while he watched with interest.

"Oh... That's pretty cool." Star responded with a smile. Twilight was hurt at the fact that she couldn't tell her own son the story behind his own father. But both Twilight and Storm agreed that it was for the best, and it would be more appropriate to tell Starstruck when he was of an appropriate age.

Meanwhile, upstairs, a stallion's eyes had just cracked open as the sun shone through a slight open crack in the curtains, directing towards the stallion's eyes. He shut them again quickly, the large influx of light stinging his retinas. He remained in the same position before moving his head slightly, preventing the sunlight from penetrating his eyes as he tried to awake properly a second time. He reared his body up, sitting back on the bed while he rubbed his eyes, small pieces of sleep still stuck in the corner of his eyes. He let out a silent yawn afterwards. The stallion smiled slightly after looking around the room, happy to be awake without fear of training exercises or an odd, mushy substitute for food that tasted like Changeling excrement. The stallions name was Shadow Storm; Or simply Storm, for short. Former Necromanecer and saviour of Equestria on one occasion.

_"It seems a little late for me to wake up... Oh yes, the study session with Twilight and Star. It probably wore me out at one point." _Storm reminisced to himself, rememebering how he had only gotten through a quarter of _Equestrian Politics _before showing signs of fatigue. Star was smart. Smarter than he was.

_"The son of Twilight Sparkle inherits the traits of Twilight Sparkle... How fitting." _Storm joked to himself as he lowered himself from the bed. Albeit his origins, Storm looked like an average pony, the only part of his body that showed any significance to his past was his cutie mark; A bright red pentagram with a circle running along the edges of the points, with some of them stretching as far as actually escaping the circle itself, giving a more intimidating appearance. The cutie mark was meant to represent anarchy, anger and above all else, death. Storm had wished several times for his cutie mark to simply disappear, to no avail. He was honestly surprised that Starstruck hadn't already found out what it meant, and Storm was thankful for that. His coat was a dark blue, closely resembling that of Princess Luna. His mane was messy and out of place, and Twilight had to keep reminding him to take a shower every once in a while. His eyes were a bright red. The leader of the evil clan he was previously part of was known only as 'The Queen' and she had taken a special interest in Storm ever since he was born. He was born specifically for the purpose of being a warrior, and thus, his blood family quickly disowned him after he was born, hoofing him over to the care of The Queen. He was ruthless, passionate and extremely good at his profession, so much that The Queen had actually made his weapon from the finest materials that she could gather, the sword was cast away as soon as The Queen fell by Storm's hooves, residing behind the makeshift grave that Storm had personally created for The Queen, believing that a Pony was sent to Tartarus should they not have a proper resting place, and he knew that even a Pony as evil and sadistic as The Queen should not suffer such a fate. The sword itself was still by the grave, probably gathering moss and chipped to the point where it was barely recognizable as a weapon anymore.

Storm trotted towards the door to his and Twilight's room, slowly opening the door as to not disturb the almost certainly continuous study session.

_"I believe Star would benefit from some rest. But who am I to give him orders? Apart from being his father, of course..." _Storm remarked to himself. He slowly descended the stairs, trying not to disturb Twilight and Star from their session.

"Storm, is that you? No offence, but a Manticore would be quieter than you going down those stairs!" Twilight shouted with her head still focused on the book in front of her. Storm breathed a sigh of defeat, making a mental note as to practice his going-down-the-stairs ability. He continued trotting down until he came to the ground floor. And, by Celestia, was he surprised. His eyes widened as he surveyed the scene before him. One word could be used to summarize the situation fairly quickly: Books. Books everywhere. On the floor, on the shelves, surrounded by a purple glow, they were everywhere. Books ranging from _Simple magic spells for beginners volume 1 _to _quantum trans-dimensional physics volume IV by Star Swirl The Bearded. _

_"Sweet Celestia, Twilight! Give the child a break..." _Storm thought to himself. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to take the situation in. But not before a small pair of forelegs made collision with his chest and quite literally knocked the wind from him.

"Morning Dad! How'd you sleep?" Star asked.

_"Mark my words, there will be a reckoning..." _Storm swore in his head as he looked at the small colt hugging his chest.

"I slept well, Star. Thank you." Storm replied with a smile before Star let him go, allowing Twilight to trot up and plant a kiss on his cheek.

"Good morning Storm!" She remarked happily before following Storm's eyes across the room, smiling nervously as she returned her gaze to Storm.

"Heh... Looks like we've got a lot of work to do this morning." Twilight remarked, picking up some of the books with her magic. Storm sighed deeply before trotting towards the front door, trudging through a barrage of different books in the process, nearly tripping over _The Equestrian Dictionary _at one point before finally reaching the door. He opened it slowly, allowing the cold air to seep into the room, feeling refreshed as the air made contact with his face, staring out into the near-empty streets of Ponyville. After a few seconds, Twilight trotted up to Storm, eyeing him curiously.

"What are you thinking about, Storm?" She asked.

"In all honestly, Twilight, I don't really know. I just feel like today is going to be much more... Interesting... Than the rest." He replied slowly.

**Yay! Look! Just like I said I would! Except it's a day late... But who cares! It's also a bit short... But who cares! And it's not really got anything interesting in it... But who ca- Okay, I'm a terrible fanfic writer. Peace.**

**-Cupzy**


	2. Foreshadow

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Pardon my French but where the FUCK have I been? Alright, so maybe I took a BIT more time off than I was supposed to but at least I'm not dead, right? Plus, my time off has given me a lot of time to think about this story, so maybe the next few chapters won't be late? Anyway, enjoy!**

A few hours of spare time and a feather duster later, the library was returned to it's previous glory. Initially, the job would have only taken around ten minutes with both Storm's and Twilight's expertise in the field of magic at hoof. But unfortunately, according to the Goddess of libraries (Twilight Sparkle) Every bookshelf in a library had to be clean and, above all else; organised. Thus began two hours of shifting books around into their alphabetical places, colour codes, and triple-checked to make sure that not one mistake was made. By the end of the tiresome ordeal, Storm was starting to question Starstruck's sanity when he appeared to enjoy the task.

"There! All done! That wasn't too hard, was it?" Twilight announced triumphantly, grinning as she darted her head from husband to son, one grinning and one frowning.

"My magical prowess is starting to grow in proportion to my mental strength. I fear I won't be able to use magic for a while after that." Storm replied, staring at Twilight blankly. As Starstruck went to check the library one last time, Twilight quickly shot a death glare in Storm's direction before trotting merrily after her son. Storm sighed slightly before turning around, but not before accidently head-butting the small creature that stood directly behind him. Storm shook his head quickly in confusion before staring at the being before him. In front of him stood a small Dragon, the Drake that had been Twilight's faithful assistant since the day she had gotten her cutie mark. The young Dragon known as Spike stood before him. Spike, in the past few years, had obviously grown, he had grown enough to reach the height of an average ponies head. Ironically, his voice still remained at the same, almost childish pitch.

"Uh... Sorry about that Storm." Spike said, chuckling nervously as he rubbed his head in slight pain.

"No harm was done, Spike." Storm replied, rubbing his head in the same manner.

"It must have been a pain sorting all those books out. You should really take a break every now and again." Spike said.

"A break? I've never taken a break from anything in me entire life, and I don't intend to start now." Storm replied.

"No offence, Storm. But you're not exactly the stallion you used to be." Spike said.

"While we're on the subject of books, why weren't you there to help us?" Storm asked.

"Oh, I was taking a na- Uh..." Spike said, cutting off his sentence when Storm shot an intimidating glare.

"I... Was at the Boutique... Yeah! I was helping out Rarity!" Spike lied, pulling a smug grin.

"I will take a break once I'm dead. Twilight is my wife, and I'm not about to let her do everything in this library." Storm declared.

"Fine, fine. I'm just saying, maybe you should just let things go. There's no more trouble in Equestria, so you can just relax now." Spike replied.

"...There's no such thing as 'safe.' There will always be those who seek power. But they never have the ambition to execute whatever plan they have. Only a few have managed to do that. One of them was slain by my very hoof." Storm said.

"Yeah, that's cool. But there isn't a very likely chance of anything like that ever happening again. At least, not in your lifetime, anyway." Spike replied.

"I understand that, but... There's something different about today..." Storm mused to himself, trotting over to a nearby window, staring out into the empty streets of Ponyville.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Spike asked curiously. Joining Storm at the window and folding his arms over the windowsill.

"It's not just now, either. The town has been awfully quiet these past few weeks. Even on a bright day, ponies still remain in their homes. I may be thinking about it too deeply, but I believe that it bodes ill... Somehow." Storm replied, not breaking his gaze from the outside world.

"Huh, now that you mention it, I suppose some ponies aren't being as active as they usually are. Even Rarity seems to go gem-hunting a lot less." Spike said. Spike's new size had obviously affected his eating habits, and he now appeared to live entirely on a diet of gems, normally refusing any type of real, edible food.

"Perhaps I'm just paranoid, The Queen's attack on Equestria was no laughing matter. And Celestia forbid what would have happened if her plans had actually succeeded." Storm thought out loud.

"Well, we wouldn't be here anymore, that's for sure." Spike replied.

"Maybe you wouldn't, but The Queen would have surely saw some potential in me. I dread to think of the magic she would use to recruit me back to her tyrannical cause." Storm explained.

"Speaking of magic, how did you actually learn to use it in the first place? I mean, it's not everyday you see a Pegasus levitating something unless you happen to be Princess Celestia, Luna, or Cadence. Well, I suppose they aren't actually Pegasus anyway but... Ah, whatever. I'm just saying that it's not really a naturally occurring thing that happens to Pegasi." Spike wondered.

"When I was a foal, I was instantly separated from my mother and father for the sole purpose of me being bred solely as a killer. Through the rugged lifestyle and harsh discipline, I quickly became obedient to my superiors. I received my cutie mark a few years later when I was training. My instructor thought it would be a good idea to put us up against one another. Obviously, the only rule was that you weren't supposed to kill anypony. Unfortunately, I didn't have a very good understanding of Pony anatomy at the time, so I might have accidentally hit the wrong spot when I was aiming for one of my colleagues. A simple and non-lethal blow to the leg turned into an incredibly lethal and life-threatening blow to the heart. Needless to say, the stallion stopped breathing on the spot. That's when my cutie mark appeared." Storm began, tracing his thoughts back to his first few years of being part of the Banished.

"You... Murdered another Pony when you were that young?" Spike said, slightly shocked at the fact.

"Unfortunately, yes. After my brief scolding afterwards, we were graced with a visit from The Queen herself in a few hours time. Apparently, my endeavor had spread quicker that I had initially thought, as The Queen had actually come to speak with me. Naturally, I was honored. The Queen had taken an interest in me purely from the fact that I had actually killed another Pony at such a young age without any emotional impact whatsoever. I remember the exact words she said to me." Storm continued.

"This is something I have never seen in tens- No, hundreds of years time. How did a young stallion like you slay a youngling the same age as you without any impact on his soul whatsoever? You intrigue me, Shadow Storm. What's more important is that your cutie mark has already shown, your true colors have already been revealed. I am very interested in you, so please, do not let me down. I am cordially inviting you to my castle tomorrow. I wish to have a quick few words for you. You could grow up to do magnificent things, Shadow Storm. Maybe one day, you will be as powerful as me, no? Hm, it's a shame that you aren't a Unicorn, magic would suit you well... But no matter, I'm sure we can find something that could help you with that." Storm recited.

"And so after that, you..." Spike started.

"Under The Queen's watchful gaze and extreme concentration, I learned the ways of a magic despite not having being blessed with a horn on the top of my head." Storm finished.

"I see... But your magic wasn't as powerful as an ordinary Unicorn?" Spike asked.

"Unfortunately, no. But I only use it for levitating, so the drawback was bearable." Storm explained.

"I see... Anyway, I promised Rarity that I'd be at the Boutique about an hour ago, I just didn't want Twilight to notice me when I came downstairs. I was going to jump out of the window in her room at first... I think I'm afraid of heights now..." Spike said, putting a finger to his mouth in pensive thought. Storm let out a dry chuckle before ushering Spike on his way, receiving a wave as the Dragon left the library.

The rest of the day went in uneventfully, with Storm spending most of his time thinking about what he had mentioned about Ponyville.

_"The town has been acting rather strange these past few days... The past month or so has been completely uneventful. I cannot shake the feeling that something dark looms over the horizon... I remember this feeling. I felt it when I trotted into the Everfree Forest after I got that note... I knew something was wrong... But I was ignorant enough to almost get myself killed... Is that what is going to happen? A disaster arises from the blue without me even knowing anything about it, with only a feeling to support my claims? No. I'm simply paranoid, the event with The Queen lifted a weight from my shoulders, but placed an even heavier one onto them. I seem to be startled at the slightest thing. Is it because of Starstruck? Obviously, I want what's best for him... But maybe I overdo it a little? Maybe it is because I haven't told him about the events before he was born. But I do it for his own benefit, both me and Twilight agreed that it was the best thing to do..." _Storm thought to himself. He had trotted upstairs and now just lay on his and Twilight's bed, staring at the ceiling as if it would give him a vague respite from his troubles.

Just then, the door to the bedroom opened. Storm craned his neck around to see the Pony standing at the doorway.

"Oh, hello Storm. I was wondering where you were." Twilight remarked with a smile on her face.

"I assumed you were having another study session with Star." Storm replied.

"I thought that I might as well give you some well-earned rest after helping me clear those books away." Twilight remarked, giggling slightly. She trotted over to the side of the bed and lifted herself up, shuffling until she lay next to Storm.

"So what are you doing up here anyway? You don't normally spend a lot of time up here." Twilight asked curiously. Storm took a moment to think, choosing his response carefully.

"Twilight, has the town seemed rather quiet to you this past month or so?" Storm asked.

"Well, yeah. But personally, I think it's a nice change of pace." Twilight responded cheerfully.

"I just... I feel like something terrible is going to happen... Do you remember when I went into the Everfree Forest and ended up being... Er... Ponynapped?" Storm asked.

"Yeah, when The Queen was still trying to take over Equestria." Twilight responded. Storm nodded in approval.

"I feel like that, when I was walking through the dense overgrowth, I knew something bad was about to happen. I just... Couldn't put my hoof on it... Until it happened..." Storm said.

"Storm... I can assure you that nothing bad is about to happen. Nothing bad has happened ever since you got rid of The Queen, so why believe that something's going to happen now?" Twilight asked. Storm pondered for a moment.

"And... Wouldn't you prefer to forget that time anyway?" Twilight continued.

"I can't seem to forget anything about it... I suppose the experience was too important and... Traumatic to forget..." Storm replied.

"Traumatic? Nothing really bad happened to you back then, right?" Twilight asked, suddenly concerned that Storm had actually suffered some mental damage from the event.

"No... I mean... Before all that, back when I was still a foal... I still remember everything about it..." Storm replied.

"Storm... You know you can talk to me about this kind of stuff, right?" Twilight asked, noticing how this was perhaps the first time that Storm felt any remorse whatsoever.

"...I suppose talking about it would make me feel better... Knowing that somepony else could know the things that I experienced..." Storm replied.

"Storm... I understand that you were devoid of any emotion at that point... But surely you had somepony that you could have... Even considered as a friend?" Twilight asked. Storm thought for a moment before responding.

"I... Suppose there was somepony... But it was more of a training partner kind of thing... We never really spoke outside of that..." Storm remembered.

"Who was he?" Twilight asked. Storm let out a small chuckle, much to Twilight's confusion.

"This may sound hard to believe, Twilight. But it was a mare." Storm responded. Twilight, to say the least, was a tad surprised. Almost to the point where she giggled a little when she heard it.

"Well, can you remember anything about her?" Twilight asked curiously.

"My memory isn't perfect... But... I'll try my best." Storm responded.

**Chapter uploaded- OH JEEZ, I HAVEN'T DONE THAT IN A WHILE. Wow, that felt weird. I understand that it's been about five years since I last uploaded a chapter, almost to the point where it felt slightly nostalgic. But I'm back! And I'm going to get back into the regular schedule again! Hooray. Peace.**

**-Cupzy**


	3. Old Wounds

**On time! Yeah! Timekeeping for the win! **

The Everfree Forest was naturally a quiet area, with only the sounds of birds chirping or grass crunching under the feet of small woodland creatures ever breaking the endless silence. Today, however, was different. Instead of silence reigning over the Everfree Forest, the clang of metal against metal ringed through the overgrowth. This sound originated every week or so, deep inside the Forest where very few Ponies have dared to tread, and even fewer have actually come back from. An unknown cult, both unheard of and dangerous at the exact same time made the Everfree their home. This cult was named the Banished by a tyrannical Alicorn ruler known only as The Queen. Very few Ponies who were actually part of the Banished lived ordinary lives - Well, as normal as living in the Banished got, anyway. Most Ponies born into the Banished would instantly be separated from their mothers and fathers, taken away to a crude facility where they would be trained to become savage killers - Known throughout the Banished as Necromanecers.

These Ponies would be taught how to kill at an extremely young age, brought up in an environment so harsh that they are devoid of any emotion whatsoever. And only a few Necromanecers had the courtesy to laugh or sound casual in any way. Every week, these Ponies, regardless of age, would be pitted against each other in a confined space, where two Ponies would battle until one couldn't battle anymore. Killing the opponent was forbidden, but you were allowed to cause minor injuries to the opponent, be it blunt force or by a sharp weapon. Every week, two ponies would be chosen to battle against each other. The winner would be treated with respect and dignity. Whilst the loser was shunned by the others, usually having to spend the night hungry. Another two Ponies would then be chosen to repeat the cycle until all combatants were exhausted. The process sometimes took entire days to finish. The noise of weapons colliding had just erupted from one of those fights, one that had already finished. The victor was a pitch black stallion with a gray mane, wielding a small axe as his weapon. The loser was a dark red stallion with a slightly brighter shade of red as his mane color, a small club resided next to where he lay, out of the stallion's grasp. The objective of the battle was to disarm your opponent completely and pin them down, which the victor had appeared to accomplish rather successfully.

Near to where the Ponies were fighting, a plethora of different Ponies sat in a straight line, watching the battle with piqued interest, some of them shooting malicious glares at the loser. The two ponies righted themselves from the position and trotted back to where the line of Ponies where sitting. The victor earned a strong pat on the back from a large chestnut stallion who was recognized as the instructor for this particular group of Ponies. The loser earned a hoof on the back of the head. As the duo returned to the group, the instructor trotted in front of the line of Ponies, eyeing each one carefully, as to measure them up. After a few solid minutes of staring at the crowd, he raised his hoof and pointed it in the direction of a stallion sitting somewhat towards the middle.

"You there, stand up." The instructor ordered. The stallion gulped slightly, steadily raising himself to his hooves whilst everypony else stared at him with both pity and jealousy.

_"Why did I have to get picked? I haven't done this before... Everypony else has already done it once or twice... I hoped the instructor had just forgotten about me..." _The stallion thought to himself. It was true. This stallion had no practical training with combat apart from the training exercises. This stallion's name was Shadow Storm. He was obedient and had no record of ever speaking out of line. He took his profession as a Necromanecer very seriously. He stood in a stoic position, not once taking his eyes off the instructor. The latter nodded slightly before returning his gaze to the line, he continued looking for a few minutes before once again raising his hoof to point at another Pony.

"You, the gray one. Stand up." He instructed. Storm moved his head towards the general direction of the instructor's hoof. He was surprised when the Pony actually stood up, realizing that it was actually a mare instead of a stallion. Mares were rarely seen as Necromanecers, and it was considered a great honor if you had the chance to become one. The mare herself had a light grey coat, with her mane and tail being a slightly darker shade of grey, giving her an almost depressive look. What caught Storm's attention was the mare's eyes; An extremely bright shade of red directly contradicted her dull coat, mane and tail. For an unknown reason, the mare's eyes seemed to unnerve Storm slightly. The mare turned her head to look at Storm, looking over him almost as to size him up. The mare returned her gaze to the instructor seconds later. She stood proud and tall, much like Storm, although she did appear to be slightly smaller than him.

"Alright you two, go grab a weapon you like and go over there. Start whenever you like." The instructor said, pointing his hoof to the small area that the last duo fought in. Storm and the mare nodded simultaneously and turned around. Storm looked around for a few seconds before realizing a weapon rack a few feet away from him. An assortment of different weapons decorated the wooden block; Hung up by small hinges that came out of the wooden structure. Storm wandered up to the rack and examined the weapons on it. Some of the weapons had clearly been used before, evidenced by the small amounts of red that collected on the blade of some of the blades. Perhaps it was just for decoration, but Storm decided that a clean weapon would probably be in better condition. It wasn't before long that he spotted a clean-looking sword near the bottom of the rack. Swords seemed to appeal the most to Storm, considering that he didn't enjoy the style of some of the other weapons, clubs seemed too barbaric whilst axes seemed too heavy. Daggers seemed too feeble and he was pretty sure that nopony actually used the polearms. He saw why; they looked heavy, not to mention hard to use. Swords seemed perfect, however. Not too slow and not too quick, but still capable of doing moderate damage to an opponent.

Not that he had actually intended to kill his opponent, he simply liked to relay to his brain the fact that he held a powerful weapon in his hooves.

_"What's the reason of holding a weapon if you lack the will to use it?" _Storm told himself, slightly boosting his confidence. He held the sword in his hooves, using the flat end of one to run it across the blade of the sword, causing a small scratch to appear on Storm's hoof. Sharp. Good. Storm turned his head to scout out his opponent. After a few seconds of searching, Storm eventually spotted the grey mare at a different weapon rack. Ironically, she also picked out a clean-looking sword, closely mimicking what Storm had previously done without even glancing in his general direction.

_"I suppose I must rely on beginners luck to keep myself uninjured. Or worse..." _Storm thought to himself, slightly uneasy about the ordeal. He shook his head, remembering that the consequences would be even greater than losing the battle if he outright refused to do the deed in the first place. Storm started trotting towards the small area designated for battle, trotting past the familiar line of Ponies, all watching intently at him. The grey mare made a similar movement, already a few steps ahead of Storm. Once the designated area had been reached, Storm quickly took a large breath before taking a position on the grass, eyeing the grey mare carefully as she moved a few feet away from him. She took a similar position, leaving Storm confused at the fact that the mare was very nearly copying everything he did.

"You can start when you like. Just don't keep us waiting." shouted the instructor from the group of Ponies. Storm turned his head to acknowledgment the instructor. His eyes widened immediately, realizing that he had just made two fatal and possibly life-threatening errors.

1) He had just looked away from his opponent

2) He was probably about to get stabbed in the next half-second or so

Storm turned back to his opponent almost immediately, raising his sword as a means of defense. Luck appeared to favor him today, it seems, as his opponents weapon made a collision with the edge of his blade, blocking the attack and allowing Storm a few seconds of thought. He weighed up the situation in the short time he was given. As a pure reflexive gesture, Storm instantly jumped back a few steps, using his wings to carry him a longer jumping distance than an ordinary Pony could accomplish. A look of surprise crossed the mare's face, suddenly realizing that her sword currently had no leverage to continue stabilizing her in such an awkward pose. Within a few seconds, the mare lost balance, foolishly tripping over and landing on her front. Storm took the initiative, silently thanking The Queen for giving him a few seconds of opportunity.

Before the grey mare could react, Storm had already galloped to her side, stopping abruptly and kicking the mare's weapon straight out of her hooves in one fluid motion, causing it to slide along the grass, cutting a few blades whilst it escaped from the mare's grasp. The mare let out a small yelp of surprise as the weapon left her hooves, rolling onto her back in an attempt to spot the Pony who had just disarmed her. Her respite was short-lived, however, as one of Storm's forelegs violently crashed down on her stomach, causing her to let out an abrupt grunt of sudden pain. The entire ordeal took no more than about five seconds. The onlookers exchanged words and gasps at the sudden display of skill from Storm, whilst the instructor looked on with piqued interest. Storm took a deep breath, surprised that the fight hadn't actually lasted for that long. Moreover, he had actually won. He looked down at the panting mare beneath him, who instantly responded with a death glare. Storm decided it would have been for the best if he just let the mare go. He lifted his foot from the mare, allowing her to stand up.

"...You fought well..." The mare said. Her voice sounded slightly strained. Granted, considering Storm had just stepped on her. He didn't respond, but rather, he simply started to walk back to the line of Ponies who looked at him as if he had just slain a dragon.

"You're not a conversationalist, I take it?" The mare spoke from behind him, stopping Storm in his tracks.

"...What do you want?" Storm asked. The mare seemed confused by his question, and just settled on shrugging her shoulders as a viable response.

"Nothing. I'm just saying you did well. You can accept praise, you know." The mare replied casually, leading Storm to believe that she didn't take being a Necromancer very seriously.

"Very well. Thank you." Storm deadpanned, receiving an amused expression from the mare.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Storm replied quickly.

"No reason. I just like knowing the names of whoever punched my lights out." The mare responded, shrugging her shoulder once more.

"...Shadow Storm." Storm responded, instantly telling himself that he had just made a stupid decision.

"Cool name. Although it does seem a little long. Ever considered a nickname?" The mare asked. Storm simply stared blankly for a few seconds.

"Alright, alright. Well, it's nice to meet you. My name's Raincloud." She announced, stretching out her hoof in a friendly gesture. Storm, of course, ignored.

"Fitting..." Storm replied, taking into account that her entire body was different shades of grey. Still, the red eyes were still slightly odd, and her personality left much to be desired from her name and appearance.

"You don't take this very seriously, do you?" Storm asked.

"Hm? Whaddya mean? Of course I take this seriously, some of us just aren't depressed every moment of our lives." Raincloud remarked, smiling slightly when Storm shot an angry glare at her.

"Depressed... I simply prefer to talk and act formally. I assumed it would be natural in the Banished." Storm replied.

"Formally? In a place like this? Who're you going to act formally to? You don't live next to anypony, and you can't leave the forest, so why act like you're going to be talking a lot?" Raincloud exclaimed. Storm didn't answer. He couldn't have, anyway, as Raincloud leaned in and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Whatever. I like you, but don't think I'm going to go easy on you next time." Raincloud remarked with a smile. Storm himself had to resist from committing the vile act of smiling as he responded.

"I'm looking forward to it." Storm replied.

**Alright, so I was pretty bored today, so I just decided to work on this until it was finished. But anyway, back to being bored again. Big thanks to Kkrossy for (once again) helping me come up with another character. Peace.**


	4. Catching Up

**Ever played Katawa Shoujo? It's a visual novel/gamey thing. I have been spending the last week playing it, and I have honestly never cried as much as I did in my entire life. Seriously, go download it and play it. And if your a pussy like me, you'll cry your eyes out towards the end(ings) There are simply too many feels. Anyway, enjoy!**

Everything went silent. Storm still laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling alongside Twilight. He had just spent the last hour explaining a short memory of his past to her, and considering how in-depth he had been **(Why, thank you Storm.) **The silence was a given.

"It sounded... Rough..." Twilight eventually said, daring to break the fragile silence.

"Some Ponies just aren't as lucky as others. I was one of the unlucky ones." Storm deadpanned. He turned his head sideways to look at the purple mare beside him. she gave him a glare that said he hadn't really answered her question.

"Yes, it was." Storm said, confirming Twilight's statement.

"That mare you mentioned... Raincloud, right?" Twilight asked, receiving a nod from Storm.

"When was the last time you saw her?" She continued. Storm returned his gaze to the ceiling, locked in pensive thought. When was the last time he saw Raincloud?

"I... Believe it was when I was sent on the mission that started the entire ordeal in the first place. She came to wish me good luck about an hour before I left." Storm answered. It was true, he had no idea whether or not Raincloud was caught up in the situation. There were no reported survivors of the miniature siege on The Queen's castle (Which, in the end, turned out to be a large mansion.) Nopony was left alive after Redblade and the Equestrian guard were finished with them.

Redblade; The name sent an odd sense of nostalgia down Storm's body. Redblade was a previous member of the Banished. Not just a member, but a prince as well. And not only a prince, but a prince that was supposed to be deceased by this point. Lord Wildton Redblade was his full name. Born into two previous rulers of the Banished, he was known for being laid-back, much like Raincloud. His legacy was short-lived, however, as one of Storm's ancestors stood up to Redblade and challenged him to a duel. Ultimately, Storm's ancestor was victorious, but fell to his wounds later that same day. Using whatever magic she had, The Queen somehow managed to revive Redblade, sending him on the mission that Storm had failed.

Redblade's mission failed. But rather than a lack of strength, Redblade stopped the mission of his own will. He had gotten closer than Storm had ever gotten, and he could have finished the job, sending Equestria into chaos and allowing The Queen to rise to power. Redblade's failure came to Storm in a dream, ad he had widely considered becoming some kind of fortune-teller up to this point.

Redblade escapade had ended of his own will. But not by pity, or sadness. Both Storm and Twilight had an... 'Expressive' reaction to Celestia's letter the next day. Redblade's mission had failed because he had fallen in love. And the lucky mare happened to be Princess Celestia herself. Celestia, at the time, had a very bad case of 'being asleep' and the confrontation of Celestia and Redblade afterwards was probably an awkward experience. In a few days, Celestia had heard and believe Redblade's story. And, surprisingly, had actually started to return Redblade's feelings. The two became a couple, and another Equestria-threatening situation had been averted. One day, while Storm and Twilight had business in the castle, Celestia made an important announcement.

And, although rushed **(Oh yeah, thanks for that, Storm. *Sniff*) **Celestia announced triumphant that she was pregnant. Twilight's reaction was... Interesting, to say the least. After the initial shock wore off, everypony came to terms that a new Princess was about to be born into royalty. Obviously, Redblade was the father. They didn't exactly seem like the perfect match for each-other, but they pulled through nonetheless. Celestia's foal was born shortly after Starstruck was, with Celestia and Redblade collectively agreeing that the foal's name should be Aurora. The naming procedure did take a while, as Celestia's personal doctor had some complication with the gender of the foal while it was unborn, and it was only apparent that the foal was a mare when she was actually born. Storm and Twilight had only met Aurora a few times, and only when she was a foal.

"I see... Do you think... She survived?" Twilight asked.

"Rain was good at combat, and even better at faking injuries... I fell for that a lot... I don't know." Storm responded.

"Rain? So she WAS your friend, after all." Twilight remarked, a smile appearing on her face.

"Not... Friends, in a sense. We just went up against each other a lot, and she told me to just call her 'Rain' at one point. I think that was the first time she won." Storm explained.

"But... She was the closest you ever had to a friend, right?" Twilight asked.

"I didn't know what a friend was back then... But now that I think about it. I suppose she was. And I to her." Storm replied.

"I see. Were you ever... Closer... With her?" Twilight asked. Storm's eyes widened, surprised at Twilight's sudden trek into unknown territory.

"N-No! Of course not... She may have been free-willed, but I can assure you that nothing of the sort ever happened." Storm responded quickly. He thanked Celestia that he was telling the truth, afraid of awakening Twilight's hidden rage.

"Alright, alright. Relax, I was just teasing you." Twilight responded with a cute smile.

"...It's getting late, perhaps I should go to bed." Storm reminisced out loud.

"Maybe you should, but Star... Wants to do another study session..." Twilight replied, slowing down towards the end. Storm simply stared blankly at the ceiling for a few moments before answering.

"I'm not cleaning it up this time. Go easy on the knowledge." Storm joked. Twilight giggled before leaning over and planting a kiss on Storm's cheek.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Twilight said, lowering herself from the bed and heading towards the door.

"Only if there aren't many books. If there are, then I'll hang myself." Storm replied. He heard another faint giggled from Twilight before she trotted out of the room, closing the door behind her. Storm sighed and continued staring at the ceiling.

_"Rain... I wonder if she's still alive. If so, then where would she be. It was hard enough for me to adjust to modern society, and even though she had a laid-back personality, it must have been hard for her as well." _Storm thought to himself. After a few more minutes of thinking idly to himself, his eyes became heavy, and the familiar sensation of sleep took over once more.

"Dad...? Dad?" A voice ringed in Storm's head.

"Hm?" Storm grunted, making a small crack in his eyes as he did so.

"Are you awake?" The voice asked. Stupid question, considering Storm was clearly awake.

"...Starstruck?" Storm muttered, opening his eyes. The colt in front of him smiled.

"Good to see you're awake. Mom and I have already cleaned up the library, so you don't have to do any work today." Star explained.

"Thank you Star. It is much appreciated." Storm said, his conscious finally telling him to wake up. Star smiled again before leaving the room, leaving Storm laying in the bed. He yawned and lifted his back from the comfortable surface, looking around the room to get his bearings.

"What time is it? I still feel rather tired..." Storm muttered to himself. He yawned loudly once more before lowering himself from the bed, trotting towards the door. He felt respite at the fact that he didn't have any cleaning duties today. Good timing, taking into account that he was heavily considering killing the next Pony who mentioned any form of cleaning to him since yesterday. He opened the door, surprised for once that the library was completely clean. He trotted down the stairs, noticing Twilight's figure from the kitchen. He grudgingly traveled to the opposite end of the room and into the small room, noticing Star standing at Twilight's side. Seemingly startled slightly, Twilight turned around with a small yelp, an embarrassed blush appearing on her face when she realized it was Storm.

"Oh, good morning Storm. Sorry for waking you up so lately, but I got an important letter from the Princess." Twilight explained, gesturing to the table, where a small scroll lay opened. Storm drew his attention to the small clock hanging on the wall.

6:30 am

"Yes... Early..." Storm said slowly, wondering how a letter from the Princess would be more important than this. He reluctantly trotted towards the table, using his magic to levitate the scroll in front of him, much to Star's everlasting attention.

_To my dearest student, Twilight Sparkle, and to both Shadow Storm and Starstruck _

_My goodness, it had certainly been a long time since I have ever sent you a letter. A few months, perhaps. As you may know, the Grand Galloping Gala is approaching in a week's time. As I am sure you know the general procedure for the event already, I am merely reminding you of the date. I am also taking this letter as an opportunity to catch up on each-other. I do sometimes find myself baffled at the idea of my dearest student having a husband to take care of, never mind a son. I am extremely proud of you, Twilight. Aurora and Redblade are doing well. Although I fear Luna has been spending more time with Aurora than Ponies of her... Stature (Or age-group.) Although she does appear to have developed an undying bond with her. Redblade works alongside Shining Armor in the Royal Guard, with performance ratings increasing within a week. On the topic of your brother; I am very aware that he and Shadow Storm have not yet made each-other's acquaintances yet, nor has he with any other Princesses apart from myself. Because of this, I ask of you to visit the Castle sometime this week, preferably before the preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala start, in order to introduce Shadow Storm to the rest of the Princesses, along with his legally binding family members. I would appreciate it greatly if you could reply to me as soon as possible. Warmest regards, Princess Celestia.  
_

_P.S. Shadow Storm, Redblade had repeatedly asked me to say 'Hi' to you._

"We're going to Canterlot?" Storm asked, having finished the letter.

"I suppose so, unless you don't want to go?" Twilight asked.

"Your brother isn't going to break my legs, is he?" Storm asked.

"What? No! Of course not!" Twilight exclaimed in response.

"Very well. It should be nice to visit the other members of Monarchy, as well." Storm said.

"Great! I'll start the preparations for us to go to Canterlot!" Twilight said, smiling.

"...Are we taking Starstruck along?" Storm asked.

"Well, of course! He seems rather happy about meeting everypony." Twilight replied.

"I've never been to the Grand Galloping Gala before..." Storm said to himself.

"...Oh! Of course! There's been so much going on that we didn't go the last few times, did we?" Twilight asked. Storm shook his head.

"Well, it's a large gathering party for esteemed members of Equestria. Normally the patrons consist of members of royalty, esteemed and famous Ponies-"

"Rich Ponies, basically?" Storm said, receiving a nod from Twilight.

"And us! It's been so long since I've been to the Grand Galloping Gala! Although, the last one didn't go so well... What with Rarity and Prince Blueblood, Fluttershy and the-"

"Prince... Blueblood?" Storm asked.

"You don't know who Prince Blueblood is? Ugh... I'd rather not talk about him... You'll see what he's like when we get there." Twilight said, leaving Storm mildly confused.

"Alright... So when are we departing for Canterlot?" Storm asked.

"Well, originally, I was going to say tomorrow. Is that alright?" Twilight asked.

"...Yes, that seems satisfactory..." Storm replied.

"Great! I'll send a reply to the Princess right now!" Twilight said, trotting out of the kitchen, yelling Spike's name. Storm followed shortly after, trotting up to the window of the library and staring outside, seeing the same empty streets he saw every day. The same feeling of dread crept up his spine, making him uneasy whenever he felt it. He pulled himself away from the window, looking back into the library.

"Something is wrong... I'm not being paranoid..." Storm muttered to himself.


	5. Perspective

**Aw man. I was doing so well, too! My mojo must have been diminished from the intergalactic cosmic waves that emanate from... Ah, just read the damn chapter. **

The Everfree forest; An area of seemingly quiet respite among the creatures that inhabit it. The deeper reaches of the Forest hold deadly monsters, lying in seemingly endless wait for prey to pass by. Few Ponies dare to trek into the wilderness, and very few have come back and lived to tell the tail. Among the beasts reside landmarks from another time, ranging from the old castle in which both Princess Celestia and Luna ruled from before the rise of Nightmare Moon, to the small settlements and strongholds that an evil cult called home. All relics of the past that have been long since forgotten, left to waste in a dangerous Forest until their walls gave way from the overgrowth or structural damage. Nopony has ever been foolish enough to traverse these landmarks properly, in fear of Manticores or Timberwolves finding their next lunch in the form of themselves.

Ever since the incident a few years ago when The Queen nearly rose to power, the mansion that she called a castle had long been forgotten about. The empty stone walls of the hallways cracked and wore from age, the rooms of the castle still holding remnants of Ponies that used to live there. No Necromanecer has set hoof inside the mansion ever since the final encounter between Storm and The Queen. Nopony had survived the battle beforehand, all Necromanecers falling to the might of the Royal guard under Redblade's command. All but two Necromanecers lived through the battle; One of these Ponies resided in a nearby town, living peacefully with his wife and foal. The other Necromanecer didn't move an inch, staying inside the vast walls of the castle, scavenging whatever possible from the abandoned rooms of the mansion. This is the tale of that Pony, how life had changed, and how everypony she knew lay in decaying heaps outside of the mansion.

"This place hasn't got much left... Didn't find much food yesterday... The Queen's journals are getting boring..." The mare muttered to herself, dragging one of her hooves across the cobblestone walls of the mansion. Suddenly, a large crack was heard, causing the mare to glance upwards, towards the source of the noise. The ceiling above her had just developed a large crack, gaping from one side of the hallway to the other in an instant.

"What the-" The mare said, her sentence cut short when a large impact was heard, causing the mare to glance behind her in surprise. Her eyes widened at the sight; A large portion of the ceiling had just collapsed on the other end of the corridor. In a few seconds, a chain reaction occurred, causing the crack to grow even larger, and causing more of the ceiling to collapse slightly closer to the mare. The entire ordeal took less than about three seconds, and the ceiling was continuing the reaction, causing the ceiling above the mare to garnish more cracks.

"J-Just how old is this place!?" The mare screamed, galloping forward instinctively, narrowly missing a large portion of cobblestone that dropped from above her. Spotting the end of the corridor, a large door indicating the entrance to the entrance stood proudly, seemingly unfazed by the destruction happening around it.

"I'm not gonna die here!" The mare shouted, galloping towards the door instantly. The ceiling continued to fall behind her, with even the walls around the hallway crumbling slightly from the pressure. The morning sun was visible through large gaps in the ceiling, casting jagged rays of light into the hallway. The mare continued to gallop towards the large door, thrusting her hooves in front of her when she reached it.

"Please open, please open, please open." The mare pleaded with whatever deity she could think of. When her hooves made contact with the wooden object, the door swung open loudly, smashing the wall behind it with a resounding *Thud* The mare grinned happily at her escapade before widening her eyes just as quick. As she was about to close the gap between her and the hallway, she felt an immense pain in her back leg. Her entire body was thrown downwards, forcing her to hit the ground painfully. The mare yelled in pain, feeling her entire body weight being thrown to the ground. An incredible stinging sensation ran up her leg, causing her to whimper in pain. Eventually, the sound of the mansion collapsing on itself wore down, allowing the mare to lift herself from her bracing position. She smiled in content before being thrown back to the ground again, her right leg tugging on something and causing a massive pain to invade her leg. Once again, her body hit the floor mercilessly.

"W-What...?" The mare questioned, turning her head back slightly. Her eyes widened at what she saw; Her leg was trapped under a large piece of debris, preventing her from any movement. Painfully, the mare rolled herself onto her back, twisting her leg and causing more pain to run up it.

"No... No, no, no..." The mare repeated to herself, instinctively grabbing her leg with her hooves and pulling her leg as hard as she could. After a few seconds, the mare recoiled in pain.

"Oh sweet Celestia, no... Come on... Not like this..." The mare muttered to herself. She examined what remained of the unstuck part of her leg. It was then that she noticed a large pool of crimson collecting underneath her damaged leg, causing her breathing to increase. The mare turned back on her stomach, stretching her hooves as far as they would go until she pressed down on the floor as hard as possible.

"Alright... This is gonna hurt... But I've been through worse... Right? If only Storm was here... He'd help me out." The mare said to herself. She took a few deep breaths before commencing her badly thought-out plan. She clenched her teeth as hard as possible and attempted to drag herself forward using her forelegs. The pain hit almost instantly, causing a stifled groan to come through the mare's clenched teeth. Bearing the pain, the mare continued to drag herself forward. Eventually, she felt the rubbed begin to give way to her leg, feeling it slowly slide out, through the near unbearable pain. After a few more seconds, the mare finally felt her leg slide out completely from the rubble.

"Alright. I'm free. That's all that matt- Oh... Sweet C-" The mare said before throwing her hooves over her mouth in shock. There lay her leg, but in any and all sense, nopony would even classify it as an appendage anymore; Scratches were visible everywhere on the limb, and the grey hue of her coat couldn't even be seen through the scarlet red that coated it. It was clearly broken, complete with it bending in the entirely wrong way.

"I can't believe this... Please let this be a dream..." The mare said to herself in an oddly high-pitched voice. A single tear collected on her eye as she examined the broken appendage. A blood trail ran from the debris to where her leg currently resided, with an even larger pool of crimson collecting underneath it. No feeling came when the leg moved, replaced by a stabbing pain.

"No point in wallowing in sorrow, I suppose... I need to get out of here..." The mare said to herself. Slowly but surely, she lifted herself up from her prone position, managing to raise herself to four hooves after a few moments, with one of her hooves giving way from her body weight accompanied by severe pain. The mare looked away from the pile of rubble she had nearly avoided, drawing her eyes to the large, open double doors at the other side of the room; The outside world visible from the small crack in the middle of the doors. She took one step forward, biting her lower lip as instantaneous pain ran up her leg. Nevertheless, she pressed onward, slowly limping towards the other end of the room.

"Pretty sure there was a town close to here... The Queen said so when she sent us to invade Canterlot, told us that if we got lost, there was a small town nearby that'd remind us of where we were..." The mare reminded herself as she approached the large doors. She reached out a hoof and pressed it down on the door's surface, the door in question making a large creaking noise as it grudgingly opened. The mare stepped outside, wincing in pain when her damaged leg touched the uneven ground. She stared up into the sky.

"Midday... Hopefully I should get there before nightfall." The mare said to herself. She started walking in the general direction of which she remembered the town to be in, praying to Celestia that she was heading the right way. As the mare looked around, she saw former houses and facilities of the Banished, reminding her of life before that day.

"It all happened so fast. We were called up to the castle by an emergency call. Once we were all there, we were told to grab our weapons and prepare to defend the castle. After about half an hour, I see a bunch of Equestrian guards approaching. They didn't waste any time, they had called up a full army to storm the castle. I knew we weren't gonna make it, so I broke off from the formation. I ran inside the castle, hoping they wouldn't find me when they came inside. I hid in one of the rooms, and I didn't hear them come in. I heard some hoofsteps coming in and that was it. Next thing I know, I'm blow off my hooves by this humongous shockwave. Didn't know what it was, so I decided to check it out. When I got back into the hallway, there was another one. It was coming from the throne room. Then, I hear a bunch of Ponies coming into the castle, so I duck back into one of the rooms, I peek outside, and what do I see? I see a bunch of colorful Ponies wearing jewelry, trotting towards the throne room. I stay there for a few more minutes, and then I hear another pair of hooves approaching. I didn't check to see what that one was... After the coast is clear, I get out of the room and go to the throne room. I get to the big doors before the throne room, and I open them a tad. It only took me a few seconds to close it again. But I'm not stupid, I know what I saw; I saw The Queen, in the flesh, fighting Shadow Storm. I didn't know what to think, but I looked back inside a few minutes later. I hear this huge slashing noise as I open the door, only to see Shadow Storm standing over The Queen, and he had won. I couldn't believe what I had saw." The mare recited to herself, taking her mind off the excruciating pain in her leg.

_"Your dream dies with you." _

"That was what he said before he brought his sword down, hitting The Queen right between the eyes. I closed the door again, deciding that running away from the situation was the best idea. I camp out in a room for a few hours. I go back outside, and poof. Nothing. Everypony was either gone or dead. I didn't know what happened that day. And now here I am, dragging my sorry flank to a town so that I can get my leg un-bucked" The mare finished. Just as she finished her story, the edge of the Everfree Forest was apparent on the horizon. The mare flashed a smile of victory before quickening her pace, ignoring the pain building up in her leg. That was, until she stopped dead in her tracks. Midway through her stride, the mare heard a large growl from behind her. Her eyes widened, slowly moving her neck so she could get a better view. She resisted the urge to scream when she saw the perpetrator. There, right behind her, stood a Manticore. The monster let out another quiet growl, sniffing the ground beneath it, where the mare's blood trail was apparent.

"H-He smelled the blood...?" The mare asked herself as quietly as her voice would allow. Too loud, it seems, as the Manticore reared it's head up, staring at the mare hungrily.

"Uh... Nice kitty?" The mare asked, suddenly decided that if she was going to die, she was going to die with a joke. The Manticore let out a defeating roar, the mare attempted to run away, only to fall over again from the unbearable pain in her leg. The Manticore took a step forward, eyeing it's prey as if it was some kind of toy to play with.

_"So... This is how I go, huh?" _The mare thought to herself depressingly, closing her eyes as the Manticore took another step forward, ready to pounce. The mare waited, and waited, and waited. After a few more seconds of waiting, the mare slowly opened one eye. What she saw was not what she expected; A Manticore, one of the most dangerous beasts in the Everfree Forest, was currently stopped in it's tracks by a Pony. Now, this Pony wasn't a professional hunter, it wasn't holding a knife to the Manticore's throat. No, instead; There stood a small, bright yellow Pegasus with a pink mane. Stopping the Manticore with an offensive movement that has been passed down in Pony generations as the most lethal move to have ever been created... Grabbing it's ear. The mare simply stared in disbelief for a few seconds before listening to what the yellow Pony was saying.

"...And you shouldn't do anything like that again, do I make myself clear?" The Pegasus finished, receiving (somehow) a nod from the Manticore. She released her violent grip on the beast, only to see it walking off in another direction, seemingly distraught from whatever drivel the Pegasus had just spouted.

_"I'm already dead, aren't I? I'm just imagining things now..." _The mare thought to herself. But the grass underneath her felt real, and the pain from her leg still felt very, very real.

"I'm... Sorry about that, he was just- Oh my! What happened to you?" The Pegasus asked, noticing the mare's leg. The mare didn't answer, but rather continued to stare at the Pegasus in disbelief.

"Um... W-What's your name? I mean, if you don't mind me asking..." The Pegasus said. The shock, confusing and blood loss was too much for the mare to handle, as she felt herself slowly drift into unconsciousness, uttering one final word before finally collapsing on the ground:

"Rain...Cloud..."

**WOAW! I DIDZ A CLIFFHANGER! Bet you haven't seen many of THOSE in this story yet, have you? Well, as a matter of fact, you probably have... But I digress. Sorry for this chapter being slightly late, my brain was simply discombobulated by cosmic rays that came from the alien planet of- Why am I doing this? I'm just lazy. Peace.**

**-Cupzy**


	6. Some Things Never Change

**Whoops. I'm a little late again.**

"Are you okay, Storm?" Twilight asked. The stallion in question shook his head before replying.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just... Felt like something terrible just happened..." Storm replied.

"Running off that 'feeling' of yours again, are you?" Twilight asked, shortly followed by a giggle.

"Joke all you want, Twilight. I fear this feeling does not lie." Storm replied.

"Well, we'll be in Canterlot soon, so cheer up. I don't want to explain to Celestia how my husband is getting paranoid." Twilight joked.

"I fear that I may have been paranoid long before we met, Twilight." Storm replied. Twilight giggled once more. Storm looked out of the window to his side, seeing the countryside of Equestria sprawling before him. A few hours ago, Twilight, Storm and Star had left the library, no amount of packing was necessary for the trip to Canterlot. By the time the trio had arrived at the train station, it appeared that the train was ahead of schedule, making the trip to Canterlot less time-consuming. The train was already approaching Canterlot, with the sprawling city visible over the horizon. Both Star and Twilight were excited, mainly because they would be able to see the Princesses once more (Well, Star's real reason was that he was happy to finally have some time where his head wasn't buried in a book.) Whilst Storm retained his bored attitude.

"You don't look very excited." Twilight noticed.

"When am I ever excited?" Storm asked back. Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought, regarding the rhetorical question with some actual thought.

"Come to think of it, that's a good question..." Twilight replied, confirming Storm's thoughts.

"I think I'm used to seeing the Princess now, Twilight. Rightfully, you should be less excited than me, considering how much of her you see." Storm said.

"Well, it's just that I haven't seen the Princess in so long! Plus, you get to meet my brother while we're there." Twilight replied.

"I don't understand why he couldn't make it to the wedding in the first place..." Storm said.

"He sent me a letter before the wedding. Apparently, he had some urgent business in the Crystal Empire. I've honestly never seen somepony put so many 'Sorry's into a letter before..." Twilight replied.

"The Crystal Empire? Remind me of his job again?" Storm asked.

"Shining Armor? He's the captain of the royal guard." Twilight deadpanned, answering the question as if it was no small feat.

"I see. On second thought, I believe that me and your brother will get along like a house on fi-"

"Don't get too comfortable, he's really protective of me." Twilight replied, cutting Storm off.

"-A house filled with Ponies burning to death." Storm corrected himself. Sighing slightly. Twilight broke into laughter at that remark, earning a small confused look from Star as a reward.

"Uh... Are you okay, mom?" Star asked curiously. After regaining her composure, she looked at Star with a sweet smile.

"I'm fine, Star, thank you for asking. So, are you excited about going to the castle?" Twilight asked, attempting to make small talk with her son.

"I guess so. Is the Princess nice?" Star asked. Storm let out a small chuckle, making some joke about the ignorance of youth whilst Twilight continued.

"Well, Princess Celestia is considered the kindest Pony in Equestria, don't you remember her from when you were really young?" Twilight asked, remembering Celestia's constant visits and use of the word 'congratulations' in the first few weeks of Star being born.

"No... I can't really remember anything before dad took me to that weird grave in the Everfree." Star replied. Twilight thought for a few moments before responding.

"I see. Anyway, the Princess is always nice, and so are the other Princesses too." Twilight said, changing the subject.

"If you look past the time when she nearly killed me..." Storm muttered, receiving a hard smack on the head from Twilight. Luckily, Star was too far away to hear what he had just said. Just then, a large screeching noise was heard. Storm was startled at first, but calmed down when he realized that it was merely the train's breaks doing their job.

_"I really am getting paranoid..." _Storm thought to himself. Twilight and Star lifted themselves up, trotting towards the exit to the train whilst Storm trailed behind.

"Come on, Storm! We'll leave you behind if we have to!" Twilight shouted back over the large crowds that populated the train station. Stallions and mares wearing expensive clothing and even more expensive jewelry trotted by, raising their noses in apparent disgust when they laid eyes on Storm. He quickened his pace, eager to escape the accusative stares. Twilight and Star waited outside the exit to the station, continuing their cycle when Storm caught up with them. Star looked around Canterlot in awe, absorbing everything the city had to offer.

"Wow... This place is huge..." Star muttered, receiving a smile from Twilight.

"Well, it is the capital of Equestria. Look, you can see the castle up there." Twilight said, pointing her hoof towards the architectural masterpiece in question. Canterlot had never really developed in the past few years. A few buildings had been knocked down due to age, new and modern ones erected in its place. Storm seemed unimpressed. He had been through this city enough times to know that he didn't enjoy it here. The stuck-up, rich families of nobles and diplomats always seemed to unnerve him. He was honestly surprised that everypony wasn't rushing up to him and literally shoving their bits into his face. **(That sounded... A lot more vulgar than I intended.)**

"Let's head to the castle, I'm sure the Princess is waiting for us." Twilight said.

"Yes, it'd be nice to get out of these streets..." Storm replied. He was honestly surprised that nopony knew who he was. Granted, nopony would probably want to recall the incident a few years ago, but surely the fact that he was travelling with Twilight Sparkle was proof enough that he wasn't a commoner of any sort. Not that he minded, in all honesty, he preferred it when nopony wanted to speak with him. The trio continued towards the castle, with Storm avoiding large groups of Ponies, sometimes even resorting to literally trotting around them. Finally, however, the familiar spectacle of the entrance gates to the castle were visible. As soon as the guards stationed on the inside of the gate saw Storm and Twilight approach, one of them instantly ran off, probably to relay the information to Celestia. Sure enough, about five minutes later, a large rumbling was heard, and the gates opened through some kind of mechanism on the inside of the gate. Star jumped at the sound of the gate opening, prompting a small chuckle from Storm. Drawing his attention back to the gate, Storm saw a familiar figure trotting gracefully through the gate. The guards bowed their heads as the regal Alicorn graced their presence, apparently unaware that the Princess found the gesture to be unnecessarily awkward. Twilight's first reaction was to gallop towards the Princess, embracing her in the infamous 'death hug' that rivaled both Pinkie Pie's hug and Applejack's hoofshake combined. Storm felt sorry for the Princess; The poor thing.

"Princess! I'm so happy to see you!" Twilight shouted, ignoring the baffled expressions from numerous guards. After coming to the realization that her hug was most likely disintegrating Celestia's internal organs, she pulled away instantly, settling for a nervous laugh as a valid response.

"Heh... Sorry..." Twilight apologized. Storm wondered if Twilight always used to greet Celestia like that. If so, she should probably see a doctor.

"It's... Quite alright, Twilight Sparkle. It is a pleasure to see you as well. To you as well, Shadow Storm." Celestia said, regarding Storm with a nod, which he returned quickly. Her eyes fell onto the small Pony that was clinging to Storm's leg, apparently both confused and frightened beyond belief at what had just happened.

"Ah... You must be Starstruck, correct?" Celestia asked. Surprisingly, Star didn't budge.

"Go on, Star. Don't be afraid." Storm ushered under his breath, trying to shake the young Colt from its grip. After a few seconds, much to Storm's happiness, Star let go of his leg. He began to slowly take steps towards Celestia. Once he had gotten to Twilight's size, he stared up at the sun Princess, having slight trouble taking in the size of the Alicorn.

"Hello Starstruck. My name is Princess Celestia, but you can just call me Celestia, okay?" The Princess asked. Storm had never seen what Celestia acted like around children, and it wasn't really a change to how she would treat normal Ponies.

"Hi..." Star muttered quietly.

"Do not worry, my little pony. I would never bring any harm onto you." Celestia said sweetly.

"Please, come inside. The others are waiting eagerly for your arrival." Celestia said, shifting her gaze to Storm and Twilight. The duo nodded, prompting Celestia to turn around and trot back into the castle, with the trio tagging behind.

The castle seemed just as it was when Storm first entered it. The design and architecture of the castle made him feel as though he wasn't welcome here.

"The others will be waiting in the throne room. We were all pleased to hear that you would be coming. It has been too long since we last saw each-other. I am honestly surprised, Twilight Sparkle. Maintaining a family whilst still managing to send a friendship report every week, I sometimes wonder how such a feat is possible." Celestia joked, letting loose a motherly chuckle.

"Well, Storm is more than capable of taking care of himself. I usually spend most of my time with Star, but I'm always in contact with the rest of my friends. Storm likes being cooped up in his room all day, and Star is exactly like me when I was younger." Twilight replied, happy that she could actually communicate with Celestia properly.

"I simply enjoy it when there aren't one-hundred books scattered across the floor." Storm said, receiving a giggle from Twilight.

"Redblade is also doing well. He either spends all day with Aurora or with Shining Armor, improving the royal guard in a way that I have not witnessed in a few hundred years." Celestia remarked. Storm had almost forgotten about the prince. Redblade occasionally sent him letters regarding his well-being. But Storm simply couldn't believe the fact that he was expected to be good friends with an Alicorn that he was previously supposed to worship. As Storm turned a corner, he was greeted with an almost nostalgic sight; The large double doors that led into the throne room. Celestia gave a nod to a few guards stationed near the door, signalling for them to turn around and push open the doors with perfect synchronization. Once the doors were open, the sight was near impossible to miss. Perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime sight. Every documented royal Princess was standing in the throne room. Ponies were honored to meet or speak to Celestia herself, never mind seeing every single princess in the same room. Smiles adorned the entire room when everypony laid eyes on Twilight, Storm and Star.

_"Well, this is certainly going to be a long day..."_ Storm thought to himself as he scanned the room.

**Hm... This chapter appeared to take longer than any of the other chapters... Weird, considering this is probably the shortest chapter in the story so far. I'm sorry, I've recently become a tad bit addicted to Dark Souls in the past week, and it has actually been eating away at my life ever since I actually started to learn how to play it...**


	7. Pancakes?

**I just realized something. Every time I said something like 'I'm late' The comment's going to be completely obsolete within a month because everybody who reads my old fics for the first time won't have to worry about that. And they have to deal with me saying 'I'm late' almost every chapter. Oh yeah! Sorry for being late. **

_"Oh sweet Celestia, my head..." _Raincloud thought to herself. She opened her eyes slowly, surveying the environment she was in.

_"What...? Where am I?" _She asked herself. She was laying on something soft, likely a bed of some sort. She was inside some kind of house. The room that she was in was rather plain. Raincloud yawned slightly before lifting her head up from the bed.

_"What happened? Wait... There was that thing with the rubble... And then I came out into the forest. A Manticore attacked me. Then... Somepony jumped out and saved me..." _Raincloud thought, recalling shards of memories from her escapade in the forest. She looked down towards her leg. One of them was bandaged up, white rolls of paper coated with an antiseptic material wrapped around it. She felt a small, numbing pain emanate from the leg. As she was examining herself, the door to the bedroom cracked open, causing Raincloud to jump slightly. She calmed down slightly when a head poked into the room. The Pony at the door slowly let herself in, eyeing Raincloud's injury with what she could only assume was her best attempt at a smile. The Pony was a bright yellow Pegasus mare with a long and complimenting pink mane, one side of it covering the majority of her face.

"Um... H-Hello..." The yellow Pegasus said quietly, barely enough for Raincloud to hear.

"Hey..." Raincloud responded groggily. She had just woken up, and talking wasn't exactly at the top of her to-do list.

"I h-hope your injury is healing well..." The Pegasus continued. Raincloud once again drew her eyes to her bandaged leg. Small, very light shades of red could be seen under the bandage.

"It's... Doing alright. Just feels a little numb." Raincloud responded. A small silence filled the room.

"Hey, you're that Pony that saved me, right? From the Manticore?" Raincloud asked. The Pegasus nodded shyly.

"I was outside, tending to the animals when I heard a loud roar. I followed the noise and found you with the Manticore." The Pegasus explained.

"Wait, wait, wait. You just trotted up to a Manticore and made it leave without even hurting it. How did you do that?" Raincloud asked, seemingly baffled by the tactics of the Pegasus.

"Well... I'm very good with animals." The Pegasus deadpanned. If she could, Raincloud would have given this Pegasus the 'Most unbelievable answer ever' award.

"Right. Uh... What's your name?" Raincloud asked.

"...Fl...Shy..." The Pegasus whispered.

"Come again?" Raincloud asked.

"...F-Fluttershy..." She said.

_"Fitting." _Raincloud thought.

"Nice to meet you, Fluttershy. My name's Raincloud, but you can just call me Rain." She responded. Fluttershy flashed a quick smile before retreating to the apparent safety of her mane.

_"There's no way she scared off a Manticore..." _Rain thought.

"What were you doing out in the forest? I mean... If you don't mind me asking..." Fluttershy said. Rain had to admit that she had never seen anything so polite in her entire life.

"I was... Er..." Rain stuttered. She couldn't exactly say that she was scavenging for food in a derelict and abandoned castle because the rest of her colleagues had been slaughtered by the Equestrian royal guard.

"Oh dear. Can't you remember?" Fluttershy asked. Rain, seeing this as her only opportunity, nodded her head.

"Well, _"_surely you must remember how you got that injury?" Fluttershy asked. Rain thought for a few seconds.

"Uh... A branch tore off a tree and fell on my leg..." Rain said, suddenly wishing that she had come up with a better story.

"I see... Well, you're welcome to stay in my home until your leg heals up." Fluttershy replied.

_"Well, it's not like I'm going anywhere, I suppose." _Rain thought.

"Thanks, Fluttershy. I appreciate it. By the way, where am I?" Rain said.

"You're in Ponyville. Well, this house is about a mile away from the actual town, but it's not that far away." Fluttershy replied.

_"Why would somepony as shy as her live so far away from everypony?" _Rain thought.

"If you need anything, then just call on me." She said. Rain nodded before Fluttershy stepped out of the room, leaving Rain to her thoughts.

_"Wow, that was stupid... I can't believe I actually did that to myself. Where did Fluttershy say I was? Bronyville or something? Uh... Ponyville! That was it!" _Rain thought, laying her head back on the pillow.

_"That felt weird... Talking to another Pony. I haven't done that in years. The last Pony I talked to was Storm... I wonder what happened to him after what I saw... Maybe he's still alive? He wasn't one to give up at any point. But why would be betray The Queen like that? He used to beat up whoever disrespected The Queen. He was really into being a Necromanecer. I can only imagine him trying to act like an ordinary Pony." _Rain thought to herself.

_"And that Fluttershy mare... I swear I've seen her somewhere before. But how? Nopony's ever set foot in one of the Banished colonies... Maybe I just need to sleep. I'm way too tired to think about any of this right now." _Rain thought. She tried to make herself as comfortable as possible. A feat not easily achieved with an inch thick piece of white cloth covering a part of her body. Her leg felt uncomfortably warm, and the numbing pain occasionally made her cringe.

_"How lucky was I? What would have happened if Fluttershy hadn't turned up? I'd have been eaten, probably. Well, at least I lived. I suppose that's what counts in the end." _Rain thought. She closed her eyes, trying to think of less horrific scenes where her insides weren't being torn out by a Manticore. Somehow, she managed to fall into a quick, dreamless sleep.

Rain woke up startled. She opened her eyes quickly as some kind of sharp pain ran up her leg. She resisted a grunt of pain as he pulled the back of her head from the pillow, staring at the bandaged appendage. What she saw was not what she was expecting. Instead of some kind of nasty infection running up her leg, a small rabbit was bouncing up and down on her leg. The rabbit was nearly weightless, but the collision was still powerful enough to cause some pain to her leg. In sleepy desperation, she threw her foreleg forward, hitting the rabbit and forcing it to roll off of her leg.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Rain shouted. The rabbit lifted itself to it's feet, staring at Rain with an infuriated expression.

"What are you even doing here? I'm pretty sure Fluttershy wouldn't let an annoying rabbit stay in her house." Rain continued. The rabbit jumped on the spot in frustration.

"Angel...? Angel bunny, where are you?" A voice came from outside of the room. After a few seconds, the door to the bedroom opened, revealing the familiar face of Fluttershy.

"Pardon me, Rain. Have you seen- Oh..." Fluttershy mumbled.

"You know this thing?" Rain asked, pointing to Angel accusingly.

"Yes, he stays here along with the animals." Fluttershy replied, acting slightly more enthusiastic at the thought of animals.

"Animals?" Rain asked. Fluttershy nodded.

"Yes, there are several animal pens outside of my house. Animals like Angel tend to stay inside with me." She explained.

"What are you, a vet or something?" Rain asked.

"No, I just enjoy taking care of them. It's the reason that I live so close to the Everfree Forest." Fluttershy replied.

_"Oh. That kind of explains why she was out in the forest." _Rain thought.

"Alright. If you want the rabbit back, then take him." Rain said, giving Angel a small nudge towards the edge of the bed. The rabbit jumped down from the bed, walking to Fluttershy's side.

"Anyway, I was going to come and tell you that your injuries should be mostly healed by now. If you feel like you're up to it, then you could try taking the bandages off." Fluttershy explained.

"You sure about that? The bandages seem a little... Red..." Rain replied, staring closely at the blood underneath the bandages.

"Oh! I'm very sorry... I must have forgotten to change them yesterday..." Fluttershy said.

"Hey, it's fine. Besides, my leg feels healed up anyway. Do you want me to take these off?" Rain asked, gesturing to the bandages.

"If you want to, or you could rest for a little while longer until they fully heal up." Fluttershy said. Rain shrugged her shoulders and started removing the bandages. She carefully unwrapped the top of her leg, carefully examining for any cuts or bruises. About halfway down, she noticed a thin scratch running down the back of her leg. Fortunately, it wasn't bleeding, and it had already started to clot. Apart from the scratch, a few, minor cuts were visible and only a few bruises could be seen on the leg. One in particular was at the base of her leg, and seemed to be caused by the direct impact from the rubble. The leg retained a small, sharp pain, but it was duller than before.

"It seems alright. You did a really good job patching me up, Fluttershy. Thanks a lot." Rain said, smiling at the mare in question.

"Well... It was the best I could do for you when I brought you into the house..." Fluttershy said.

"Think about it this way, you've essentially saved my life. I would've been Manticore lunch if you hadn't come along." Rain said. Fluttershy flashed a quick smile in Rain's direction.

"Speaking of lunch, are you hungry at all?" Fluttershy asked. Rain hadn't though about food since she got trapped under the rubble. On cue, her stomach made a quiet rumble. The last thing she had eaten was a piece of stale bread from one of the old rooms in the mansion.

"Come to think of it. Yeah, I am." Rain said. Fluttershy nodded and proceeded to turn towards the door with Angel in tow.

"If you have any trouble getting on your hooves, then just call on me, okay?" She asked. Rain nodded in reply. Once Fluttershy had left the room, Rain crawled over to the side of the bed and lowered her hooves onto the ground. Once her damaged leg made collision with the floor, a small pain ran up her leg. Bearable, but annoying. She made a few practice movements with her hoof before trotting around the room a few times, getting used to the small pain that ran up her leg whenever her damaged appendage made contact with the floor.

"It isn't perfect, but it's better than nothing, I suppose." Rain said to herself. She trotted towards the door, pushing it open gently with her hoof. As she did, the smell of some kind of food filled her senses. It wasn't anything she had ever smelt before, but it smelt good. She walked down the narrow hallway towards the smell of the unusual food. She saw what Fluttershy meant by liking animals. Several bird houses dangled from the ceiling, and there was even a small mouse-hole carved into the wall at one point. After eventually finding her way to the kitchen, she was greeted by the sight of Fluttershy sitting at a small table, eating some kind of foreign food that Rain had never seen before. Once Fluttershy noticed her, she smiled happily in her direction, inviting her to the opposite end of the table.

"It's good to see that you managed to get onto your hooves, Rain." Fluttershy said sweetly.

"Thanks, Fluttershy. I appreciate the help." Rain replied.

"I made some pancakes for you, since you said you were hungry." Fluttershy said, pointing to a small plate in front of Rain. On the plate sat a stack of large, circle-shaped objects which appeared to be the source of the sweet smell.

"Pan...Cakes?" Rain asked curiously. The reaction from Fluttershy told her that it was probably a stupid question.

"Yes... Haven't you ever had pancakes before?" Fluttershy asked. Rain stuttered for a bit before answering.

"Uh... No... Can't say I have." Rain responded. She stared at the plate of 'pancakes' intently. She silently wondered inside if Fluttershy was trying to poison her. Deciding to not waste any time, she picked up a fork and picked up one of the circles curiously. Receiving an odd glance from Fluttershy, she sighed to herself and bit off a part of the pancake. The taste that filled her mouth after a few seconds of chewing was one of the most amazing things she had ever tasted in her entire life. Fluttershy's gaze of curiosity quickly turned into one of concern as Rain's eyes nearly glazed over while her mouth simply remained open, savoring the taste of the delicacy.

"Um... Rain? Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked, suddenly worried for her sake. Rain simply chewed on the pancake some more before swallowing, smiling happily at Fluttershy when she was done.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Uh... What were these called again?" Rain asked with a giddy smile.

**Hm. This chapter took longer than expected. I suppose I just went blank towards the end, and I eventually decided to write something with some very slight comedy in it for once. Yes. Because we all know that pancakes are the height of comedy. (If you've never had a pancake before, then you have not yet lived a full life.)**


	8. This 'Brother-In-Law' Thing Never Works

**Hm? What's this? It appears as if I'm doing some kind of perspective change every chapter? Perhaps this will lead to a climax in which an incredibly long chapter will be submitted? Nay, fair sir or madam. Your accusations are appalling and subsequently, I must submit you to the authorities. Guards! Yes, you! The one in tweed! Apprehend this offending individual, post haste! **

**...**

***Ahem* Sorry about that. My 'English' appears to be showing.**

"...And that, my little pony, is why Luna would and shall never eat broccoli." Celestia finished with a motherly smile. The entire room filled with an awkward silence. Storm rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"That was an... Interesting story, Princess." Storm said, breaking the silence. Needless to say, the meeting with The Princesses, Redblade and Shining Armor actually turned out rather awkward. Nopony was brave enough to start a conversation with each-other. So, to brighten the mood, Celestia indulged everypony in a tale about her and Luna's past. Luna herself simply stood there, mouth agape as Celestia told her story. Storm had to admit that he had never felt more sorry for a Pony. After the initial 'introduction' everypony started to strike up conversation with each other.

"Storm!" A voice called out. Storm reared his head around, revealing a happy Redblade waving at him. Whilst Twilight went to perform the death-hug on her brother, Storm decided that it wouldn't hurt to have a conversation with Redblade.

"Hello, Prince. It's nice to see y-" Storm said, shortly before Redblade clasped a firm hoof over his lips.

"Let me stop you right there. I've told you countless time that you can just call be Redblade. Got it?" Redblade said. Seeing no need for resistance, Storm merely nodded his head, taking in a deep breath when Redblade moved his hoof away.

"I understand. It simply doesn't seem formal enough for me to call you by your real name instead of 'Prince.' You are royalty, after all." Storm replied. Redblade let out a hearty chuckle before patting Storm on the head.

"You haven't changed, Storm. It's nice seeing you again. The mind wastes away when you're training countless amounts of guards." Redblade said.

"The mind also tends to waste away when you have to clean up an avalanche of books before your wife allows you to have breakfast..." Storm muttered in reply. Redblade chuckled again.

"I think you should go see Shining Armor. he's been very... Curious about you." Redblade said. Storm couldn't help but gulp nervously. The whole 'brother-in-law relationship' thing never really works out. That's how these things work, right? As he pondered on the thought, he felt a hoof lightly tap him on the shoulder. He turned around to see Twilight giving him a warm smile.

"Come on! Let's go see my brother!" Twilight exclaimed, seeming rather happy about the ordeal. Perhaps she just wanted to see how it would turn out?

"Yes, I suppose I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him yet." Storm muttered whilst Twilight led the way. She eventually brought them to two different Ponies. One of them was an pink Alicorn And one of them was a Unicorn. It didn't take that much thought to figure out who Shining Armor was.

"Storm, this is Princess Cadence. She used to foalsit me when I was younger." Twilight said. Cadence smiled in acknowledgment, while Storm settled for a short bow.

"Foalsitting Twilight... It certainly doesn't seem like a task for the faint of heart." Storm said, receiving a small laugh from Cadence.

"And this is my BBBFF, Shining Armor." Twilight said, pointing to a chalk-white Unicorn with two shades of blue as his mane and tail. The resemblance to Twilight was subtle, but unmistakable.

"BBFFB... Pardon me?" Storm asked, confused as to what sentence would require such a ridiculous acronym.

"Big brother best friend forever." Spoke Shining Armor. His voice sounded laid back and relaxed, and sounded more like he should be some kind of lifeguard at the beach.

"You must be Shadow Storm. Nice to meet you." Shining Armor said, outstretching his hoof.

"A pleasure." Storm replied, deciding that being as formal as possible was probably the best approach.

"Twilight, perhaps we should leave these two to their... Stallion talk." Cadence said, receiving a nod from Twilight in return. The two trotted in Celestia's direction, who appeared to be spinning another yarn of epic proportions.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Shadow Storm. I'm sorry for not introducing myself in these past years." Shining Armor said.

"It's perfectly fine, Shining Armor. I understand how hard being the captain of the royal guard is. And please, call me Storm." Storm replied.

"I was honestly expecting you to be completely different considering your past... Er... No offence." Shining Armor said.

"None taken." Storm replied

"I was really worried about Twilight choosing the wrong stallion. But you seem alright." Shining Armor said. Storm let loose a mental breath of relief.

"In all honesty, Shining Armor, Twilight appears to be more of a hoof-full that me sometimes..." Storm said, receiving a laugh from Shining Armor.

"I can understand that. Twilight's always got her head in a book. Sometimes, you can't even tell we're related." Shining Armor replied.

"She's helped me get through a lot. I can't really blame myself for falling for her." Storm said.

"You seem perfect for her. I'm honored to have you as my brother." Shining Armor said. Among the conversation, Storm had completely forgotten the fact that he and Shining Armor were now legally related. In all honesty, it felt good when he said that.

"Likewise, Shining Armor." If he wasn't with Twilight, there were few occasions where Storm actually pulled a geniune smile. This was one of those occasions. As he proceeded to trot away, he heard Shining Armor's voice.

"Oh, and Storm?" He shouted, causing Storm to crane his head around and acknowledge the question with a nod of his head.

"If you ever hurt her; Emotionally or physically, then I'll hide your body." He continued. Storm couldn't help but ponder in his brain whether or not that was actually a joke, and, quite frankly, he was afraid. He trotted back to Twilight's side.

"Hi Storm. Did you meet Shining Armor?" Twilight asked.

"Yes. He's certainly an interesting individual." Storm replied, remembering the final exchange.

"Well, it's good to see you two getting along. I was half-expecting him to pull you out of the throne room for a few minutes and bring you back covered in bruises." Twilight said, letting loose a giggle.

_"How in any logical sense is that even remotely humorous?" _Storm thought.

"I'll be honest, meeting your brother was probably the most stressful part of this trip. Anyway, who else am I to meet?" Storm asked.

"I think the only Pony you haven't met yet is Aurora. She's been dying to see you." Twilight said, pointing her hoof in Celestia's direction. Storm could partially see a small filly standing at Celestia's side. As Storm got closer, the features of Aurora became more prominent; She had a light red coat, likely from Redblade's side. Her mane was an extremely dark pink, almost to the point of being purple and, surprisingly, didn't flow like Celestia's, but kept a still appearance.

"Ah, Shadow Storm. I assume you've come to meet Aurora?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, Princess. Twilight mentioned that meeting everypony here would prevent any confusion in the future." Storm responded, turning his gaze to the small filly at Celestia's side. The filly in question moved forward slightly, gesturing a short bow before speaking.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Shadow Storm." Aurora said. Her voice sounded regal, but kept a childish tone hidden inside it. Aurora was about a year older than Star, meaning that it was normal for her to understand the basic rules of formality. When she was born, there was, and still is, some controversy to what role she would fill when she came of age. Celestia herself seemed pretty confused about the ordeal. Realizing he hadn't spoke for a few seconds, Storm performed a hasty bow in return.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess Aurora." Storm responded. It felt odd having to put 'Princess' in front of a young filly's name, and it felt odder than it should have when it left Storm's mouth.

"And please, call me Storm." He continued.

"Okay... Storm!" Aurora said, savoring the word as if it was some kind of foreign food.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Shadow Storm. It has been too long since we last spoke." Celestia said.

"I'm afraid there isn't much to speak about, Princess. All I have to say is that your student seems to enjoy torturing me by making me pick up around two-hundred books every morning." Storm said. Aurora let out a small giggle, which sounded like a suppressed and more juvenile version of Celestia's laugh.

"I'm sure you're aware of the grand galloping gala coming up soon?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, Princess. I look forward to it with rapt attention." Storm responded. In all honesty, he wasn't actually looking forward to it that much.

"Miss Rarity has already created formal attire for the Elements. You shall have to ask her at some point to fabricate a piece of clothing for you." Celestia explained.

_"Suits. Lovely. Now I really WILL look like one of those stuck-up Canterlot dwellers." _Storm thought to himself, resisting the urge to groan in frustration.

"Well, I'm sure you have a lot to plan, so I really shouldn't be keeping you. Still, it was nice to see you again, Shadow Storm." Celestia said.

"The pleasure was all mine, Princess." Storm replied. As he spoke, a small noise caught his attention. He looked to the source of the noise, noticing a small object pass through the throne room doors. Storm squinted his eyes in confusion. It was only when the object came to Celestia that he realized what it was; Spike's flame, sending a letter to Celestia. The small, green flame that engulfed the small remains of the paper, dissipated, leaving a small scroll held aloft by Celestia's magic.

"Princess? What is it?" Twilight asked.

"It appears Spike has decided to send you a letter." Celestia said, levitating the scroll into Twilight's possession. Storm peered over Twilight shoulder, wondering why Spike would decide to send a letter when they were about to make their way back to the library.

_Dear Twilight_

_I was sorting the books in the library today when something weird happened. Fluttershy came strolling into the library, which she never does, along with this mare that I've never seen before. She starts calling your name, so I have to go and explain to her where you are and why she wanted to see you. She said that she found the the mare she was with out in the Everfree Forest, getting attacked by a Manticore. Her leg was pretty messed up, so Fluttershy took her in. When she was healed up, Fluttershy started to talk with her. Somewhere along the line, Fluttershy mentioned Storm's name, and this mare seemed really confused when she heard it. Her first reaction was something like 'He's alive?!" Or something like that. I'm not sure who she is, but maybe Storm knows? She doesn't exactly look like anypony you'd ever seen in Ponyville. I'm not sure who she is, but she really wanted to see Storm. Kinda weird, huh? But yeah, this mare is pretty much demanding that you and Storm come back from Canterlot right now. She says that her name's Raincloud. That ring any bells?_

_Spike_

**OH MY GOD, I CAN'T BELIEVE I LEFT IT THERE. I'M SUCH A BASTARD.**


	9. A Name From The Past

**Wow, I have nothing to say this time. Uh... Enjoy!**

An eerie silence filled the room. Twilight simply stared at the scroll with an expression that was a mixture of both irony and disbelief. Storm, on the other hoof, stared at the scroll with his mouth agape, he even had time to read the scroll twice to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. His left eye twitched slightly, hinting at some kind of mental deprivation growing within him. Apart from Twilight and Storm, everypony else in the room didn't know what to make of the situation, simply deciding that staying quiet was probably the best thing to do. Star simply stood next to Twilight with a confused expression, apparently not understanding what was actually going on. This continued for a few more seconds, although to Storm, it felt like a short decade had just passed.

"Shadow Storm. Is there something... Bothering you?" Celestia asked. Now, naturally, when a Princess decided that you were worth their time and actually spoke a single sentence to you, you would probably stop whatever you were doing and respond to them instantaneously. Storm didn't appear to be in this sort of mindset, but rather, he could only muster the strength to continue staring at the small piece of scrap paper with several black splodges dotted over it to shape words.

"She's... Alive..." Storm finally muttered, drawing the attention of every Pony in the room, partially due to the fact that they were happy that Storm was still breathing and hadn't died of oxygen loss halfway through his staring contest with a piece of paper.

"Twilight Sparkle... Do you understand what has Shadow Storm in such a predicament?" Celestia asked.

"Uh... It's a little... personal for him..." Twilight replied.

_"What are you doing!? Say something!" _Storm's subconscious screamed.

"I... I'm fine..." Storm said through gritted teeth. Clearly, he wasn't fine. But everypony went along with it simply to humor him.

"Storm, do you want to head back?" Twilight asked. She didn't get a vocal response, but rather a nod instead.

"As much as I would enjoy you staying, I understand fully if this is something personal, Shadow Storm." Celestia said. Storm simply gave another nod.

"Come on, Storm. We'd... Better get going." Twilight said. Another nod.

_"I can't believe this... How many years has it been since I was part of the banished? Three. Three whole years of living in peace and harmony. How did Rain survive? Did she move to another town, like I did? Has she developed a life for herself like me? And... If she hid for all these years, then why show up now?" _Storm thought. Questions spun around in his head like a tornado. He realized he was daydreaming, as he could see Twilight trying to speak with him.

"...Are you okay?" Twilight said, apparently finishing a previous sentence that Storm didn't listen to. It had also come to his attention that he was now outside of the throne room, trotting down the extremely large corridors of the castle alongside Twilight and Star.

"Yes, I'm... I'm fine." Storm replied, sounding about as convincing as he usually did.

"Storm... You know you can talk to me about these things, right?" Twilight asked. Storm knew he could. He just didn't want to.

"I know, Twilight. It's just... I can't believe that Rain's alive..." Storm replied.

"...She was a good friend to you, wasn't she?" Twilight asked.

"I didn't know what 'friend' meant back then. To me, she was just a nuisance that wouldn't leave me alone. She was kind to me, I just didn't know it. She would sometimes bring me her own food whenever I refused to eat from failing a training exercise. She used to keep telling me to cheer up." Storm reminisced.

"But... Aren't you happy she's alive?" Twilight asked.

"I am... It's just the shock of knowing that she is." Storm replied. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when she couldn't think of anything worthwhile to say. Before he knew it, Storm had already reached the entrance gates to the castle.

"I apologize for shortening our stay." Storm said, catching Twilight's attention.

"That's alright... We were about to leave, anyway, weren't we?" She replied. The trio continued into the city, moving towards the train station.

"I hope we won't have to wait too long for a train..." Twilight said, putting a hoof to her chin.

"I doubt it. Canterlot has a lot of trains going in and out of the city. I'd bet that we'll be able to catch a train once we get there." Storm replied. They continued into the train station, where, surprisingly, there was a train arriving in five minutes. Twilight paid for their tickets and the trio continued onto the platform, sitting on a nearby bench.

"Hey Storm?" Twilight asked.

"Yes?" He replied.

"You don't suppose that... Star is affected by all of this...?" Twilight asked. Storm looked over at the young colt in question, who gave him a warm smile in return.

"He's young but... Sometimes it's impossible to see into the minds of foals..." Storm replied.

"I suppose... But... When are you going to tell him about... You?" Twilight asked. Her voice had descended into a whisper.

"...I'll tell him when he's ready." Storm replied. Twilight sighed, and for a good reason. That was the response she got every time she asked Storm that question.

"I understand that you don't want to hurt him emotionally, but... We shouldn't keep secrets from him... Our own foal..." Twilight said. Although Storm could certainly handle a lot of emotional wear and tear, he would be lying if he said that he didn't feel pangs of guilt run up his body at that moment. At that moment, the familiar sound of a train approaching made Storm raise his head. A small locomotive was making it's way to the station. with only four carts, it certainly wasn't meant to hold a lot of Ponies. The trio boarded the train when it finally stopped, giving Storm a moment's respite from the discussion he just had with Twilight. They took their seats next to the window. Star was always in a happy mood when he was on a train, constantly pressing his face up against the window to see the countryside flying by.

_"He may be smart, but it seems that not even the most dedicated of foals can resist simple pleasures." _Storm thought to himself. After a few more minutes of waiting, the sound of steam bellowing from the train was evident, and the locomotive was in motion within the next few seconds.

The rest of the trip went in uneventfully. Twilight shot constant glances at Star with a worried look, making Storm guilty every time he saw her doing it. A pony came by, asking for their tickets for the train ride. After about an hour of waiting patiently, the image of Ponyville was visible over the horizon, and the brakes of the train could be heard a few minutes later. The same Pony from before came through the carts, informing everypony that they were arriving in Ponyville.

"Storm, where do you think Raincloud is?" Twilight asked. Storm nearly hit himself for not realizing such a simple fact; He didn't know where Rain's location was.

"I'd say the best bet is the library, I hope Spike was kind enough to invite Rain to stay during the night." Storm replied, receiving a nod from Twilight. The trio departed from the train, receiving a 'goodbye' from the stallion that had previously asked them for their tickets.

"I think things would have been more convenient if we hadn't gone on that trip..." Storm said. Celestia's sun had just started to set over the horizon, coloring the sky with a bright red glow. Per usual, the streets were near empty, causing an odd feeling to once again rise up in Storm's chest.

_"...This is very odd... What's happening to this town?" _Storm thought. The trio continued down the roads of Ponyville. The library, due to it's arbitrary appearance and height, was visible in the distance.

"Twilight? Why exactly do we live in a tree?" Storm asked. The question was random, but it was a question that had plagued Storm's mind since he had first saw it. Living in a library was one thing, but living in a tree was a completely different story.

"Well... It was where the Princess sent me to live in Ponyville while we were preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration. I'm not too sure why it's a tree." Twilight replied. It didn't really answer Storm's question, but he didn't have any need to further indulge himself in questions. When the trio finally reached the library, Twilight stopped and turned to Storm.

"Storm... Are you okay? You're being really nervous." Twilight said, tilting her head slightly.

"I..." Storm muttered before stopping mid-sentence. He was worried. He was worried about seeing Rain again.

"I'm fine... It's better to get this over with..." Storm said. Twilight examined Storm for a few seconds before continuing her trot to the door of the library. Somehow realizing it wasn't her own house, Twilight knocked on the door a few times. She waited for a few seconds before turning her head to Storm's facehoof. After a few seconds, the door opened. Surprisingly, instead of Spike, Fluttershy was waiting at the doorway.

"Fluttershy? What are you doing here? Oh... Wait... The letter..." Twilight said. Fluttershy nodded timidly before stepping aside to let her friends inside. You know when you go on a holiday, and then you come back to your own house and you get this weird smell from it when you first step inside? Storm got that when he trotted inside. Except the only smell was dust and a forest-y smell from the giant tree he happened to be standing in.

"Fluttershy, is Raincloud here?" Twilight asked.

"U-Um... Yes... She's upstairs, resting in one of the spare bedrooms... I-I'm sorry if that wasn't allowed, she was just really tired, and I-"

"It's alright, Fluttershy." Twilight interrupted, receiving a small smile from the yellow Pegasus in return.

"Storm? Why don't you go see her?" Twilight asked. Storm thought for a few seconds.

"Yes... I'll go and see her." Storm replied, deciding that seeing Rain alone would probably make the situation less awkw- No, wait, that would make the situation MORE awkward. Twili- Oh. She was already on the other side of the room, chatting with Fluttershy. Sighing, Storm slowly trotted up the stairs of the library, heading towards the guest room. Once he was at the door, he took a large breath, slowly raising his hoof to knock on the door.

_"What am I going to say? 'Hello. You may remember me, I betrayed your entire livelihood and probably sent you onto the streets of Canterlot. Sorry about that'?" _Storm thought. No. Rain was better than that. Surely she must have had a better life since Storm killed The Queen? Storm tapped his hoof against the door a few times and stood there, waiting for a response. After five seconds had past, he knocked a few more times. Another five seconds past. Seeing no alternative, he moved his mouth closer to the door.

"...Rain...? It's... Shadow Storm..." He said into the door, making his voice quiet enough so that nopony downstairs could hear it. He waited a few minutes for a response. Seeing the only way left, he pressed his hoof up against the door, pushing it gently and allowing a crack to appear in the door.

"I'm... I'm coming in..." Storm said. He opened the door enough so that his body could fit through it. The room was pitch black, and Storm could barely see anything. The outlines of furniture were his only way of navigating through the room.

"Rain? Where are you?" Storm asked in a random direction. No response.

"Listen... I understand that you might be agitated with me... I'm sorry if I worried you after I didn't come back from that mission..." Storm said into the darkness. Still no response.

"I understand if you don't want to see me... Maybe it'd be better if I just left?" Storm asked. Silence. He sighed slightly, turning around to head back to the door. He was about to start trotting to the exit, but something blocked his way. Well, 'blocked' was a term that was being used very loosely in this situation. It was more of a 'An object has just crashed into the side of my body' kind of situation. Nevertheless, Storm was instantly thrown onto his side by the opposing force, hitting his body against the floor of the room. He let out a grunt of pain as the mass on his side refused to give way. Using reflex as his only initiative, he rolled his body over, causing the culprit to tumble off his body. He pulled himself up quickly, staring into the pitch blackness of the room. He stood there for a few seconds. Eventually, he heard a short snicker break out from the darkness, eventually evolving into full-scale laughter. Storm was confused and slightly scared by what he heard. After the laughter died down, he heard a distinctly nostalgic voice break out from the darkness.

"You've gotten rusty, 'Storm'."

**AGAIN. I CAN'T BELIEVE I LEFT IT AT THAT. BRB, JUST GOTTA GO SHOOT MYSELF REAL QUICK.**


	10. Strong Storms And Heavy Rain

**Okay, this chapter's a little late. But alas, the summer holidays have drawn to a close, and school has now officially begun a term anew. So basically, I've been studying n' stuff these past few days, so yeah, sorry about that. Well, that, and I've just been lazy.**

"...Rain...? Is that you?" Storm asked. He felt stupid for having to speak into a completely pitch-black room. Another giggle broke through the darkness, lightening the mood slightly.

"Who else is it going to be?" Rain replied. Her voice sent a nostalgic feeling down Storm's body. He waited in silence for a few seconds before letting out a laugh of his own. If he could have seen Rain's face, he was sure that it would have been shocked.

"Wow. The unbreakable and stoic Shadow Storm actually laughs from time to time?" Rain asked sarcastically.

"Everypony can change, Rain. I'm a perfect example." Storm replied. The room fell silent for a few seconds.

"So... How are you?" Rain asked. It was a stupid question, and was probably the most used in this kind of situation.

"I'm good, thank you. How have you been?" Storm asked.

"Pretty... Uh... Good..." Rain replied. Storm could hear the doubt in her voice, bringing him back to his mindset on how Rain lived after the Banished were... Well, Banished. He decided not to delve any deeper in Rain's affairs.

"Could you please turn the lights on? I don't believe reunions are supposed to be carried out in this manner." Storm joked. He waited for a few seconds before hearing a quiet *click* from across the room. The lights flickered on, allowing Storm to get a better look at the room he was standing in. He was honestly surprised that he hadn't tripped over anything. He also got a better look at the mare standing in front of him. She was exactly the same as he remembered her; She had a grey coat with a darker shade of grey for her mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a red lightning bolt surrounded by brightly-colored red stars. Her eyes were an extremely prominent shade of red, which stood out completely from her usual grey shade. Her mane was braided, and looked exactly as Storm imagined it.

"You haven't changed, Storm." Rain said, smirking slightly.

"Neither have you." Storm replied.

"I was surprised to hear that you were still alive after... What happened." Rain said.

"As was I. Your sudden appearance forced me to cut my visit to the Princess short." Storm replied.

"The Princess? As in, THE Princess?" Rain asked, receiving a nod from Storm.

"No, no. I'm clearly not getting through to you. I mean, as in, Princess Celestia of Equestria." Rain continued. Another nod.

"Yes... Who else, exactly?" Storm asked.

"Wait. How did somepony like YOU get to talk to a Princess? Weren't you trying to... You know... Kill her a few years ago?" Rain asked.

"Yes. But things changed, Rain. I have... Er... Connections." Storm replied.

"Connections? I'm surprised you're actually staying somewhere. Also, who came in with you? I heard more than one Pony trot through that door." Rain said. Storm sighed slightly. Telling an old friend about your marriage to a Pony who is supposed to be one of their worst enemies usually creates an awkward atmosphere.

"That was Twilight Sparkle and Starstruck." Storm said. Rain put a hoof to her chin.

"Twilight Sparkle... Twilight Sparkle... Oh! Isn't she supposed to be one of those... Elements of happiness or something?" Rain asked.

"Elements of harmony. And yes, she is." Storm replied.

"What's she doing here? And who's Starstruck?" Rain asked.

"...She lives here." Storm replied.

"She lives... Wait. Don't YOU live here? Isn't that kind of... Intimate...?" Rain said, spitting the word out as if it was some kind of dangerous poison.

"Er... Well..." Storm muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh well. You probably live in separate rooms, so it's alright." Rain said, effectively cutting Storm off.

"We... We don't..." Storm replied. Rain looked at Storm with arched eyebrows.

"You live in the same room? Isn't that kind of awkwa-"

"Rain. We're married." Storm said quickly before turning his gaze to the floor. He could hear Rain's jaw hit the floor.

"W-What...?" Rain said. Storm sighed once more.

"We're married. Legally related. In a serious relationship. Whatever you want to say." Storm replied. Rain's eyes widened to the size of saucers. The mere thought of one of the most savage, emotionally drained Ponies in existence had actually gotten married seemed to lull Rain into some kind of mild insanity for a few seconds.

"Heh... Uh... You're joking, right?" Rain asked, almost as if the evidence wasn't enough to support the fact.

"Certainly not." Storm replied.

"Uh... Alright then... Wait, then who was the other Pony that came through the door?" Rain asked.

"Starstruck." Storm replied quickly.

"Never heard of him. What is he, your friend or somet-"

"My son, Rain. He's my son." Storm said. Rain simply waited for a few seconds before opening her mouth, only to close it again a few seconds later.

"...Storm...?" Rain asked.

"Yes, Rain?" Storm replied. At first, Storm was worried about Rain's reaction to his marriage, and was rather surprised when Rain suddenly lunged forward, wrapping Storm in a tight hug and forcing him to take a few steps back. After a few seconds, Rain looked up at Storm with a smile on her face.

"Congratulations... I'm happy for you." Rain said slowly. Storm returned the smile.

"Happy to hear it." Storm replied. Rain eventually loosened her grasp, allowing Storm to free himself from the hug.

"Now. I think it's about time that you answered some questions for me." Rain said.

"I don't understand what questions you'd possibly want to ask, but I suppose I should tell you what you want to know..." Storm replied.

"Alright. First of all; What happened on the day before everypony who was part of the Banished just disappeared?" Rain asked.

"...The royal guard were there. They were storming The Queen's... Er... Castle." Storm replied.

"Okay, I can believe that. But I saw you in that room with The Queen... Don't think I didn't see what you did." Rain said.

"Y-You... Saw that...?" Storm asked. Rain nodded her head. She gulped slightly.

"I... I saw you kill her... Why did you do it?" Rain asked.

"I had seen the error of my ways. I'm a different Pony now, and I finally found out what being in the Banished really meant. I killed The Queen, yes. But I did it knowing that I did Equestria a favor." Storm replied.

"...You... Really changed, huh?" Rain asked, receiving a nod from Storm.

"I see..." She continued.

"Is it my turn to ask some questions?" Storm asked. Rain nodded.

"Where have you been these past three years? I thought you had perished along with the rest of the Banished..." Storm asked.

"I... I stayed in the castle..." Rain replied.

"Y-You... Stayed out there? In the Everfree with nopony else...? For three years?" Storm said.

"Yeah... I scavenged for food every day... And today, whilst I was finding something to eat, the castle nearly came down on me..." Rain said, pointing to one of her legs. Storm followed her hoof to a bruised and lightly cut leg, small stains of red standing out against her coat.

"I started looking for some help, and I figured I could make it here to get some medical help... That's when I got attacked by a Manticore... Before I knew it, Fluttershy jumped out of nowhere and just drove the Manticore off! I passed out there, but she took me back to her house where I got some rest... The next morning, Fluttershy started talking about all her friends... And then she mentioned your name and I got really confused. Her description of you was as I remembered and I kind of... Freaked out that you were still alive... And... Here I am, I suppose." Rain explained. As she finished, the door to the bedroom opened. Storm turned his head around to see Twilight standing at the doorway.

"Is everything alright? I thought I heard someth-" Twilight said before cutting off as her eyes fell on Rain.

"Oh... Uh... You must be Raincloud, right? Storm's mentioned you a few times." Twilight said, apparently feeling the awkwardness she had just interrupted. She held out a hoof in a friendly gesture, which Rain returned happily.

"Hey, you must be Twilight Sparkle, right? Storm just spoke about you..." Rain said. Without warning, Rain suddenly pulled Twilight closer to her, moving her mouth to Twilight's ear and whispering quietly. Storm didn't hear what Rain whispered, but the large blush that adorned Twilight's face and the slight nod of her head told him that he really didn't need to know.

"Um... It's a pleasure to meet you too, Raincloud." Twilight said, a blush still flaring on her cheeks.

"Just call me Rain. Everypony else does. Oh! And sorry for cutting your visit to the Princess short. I didn't mean to be a bother..." Rain said.

"Oh, that's fine. We were just about to leave, anyway." Twilight replied with a giggle.

"Oh... Rain? Do you have anywhere to stay?" Twilight asked. Considering the nature of their previous conversation, Storm wondered if the question was too touchy for Rain to answer.

"Um... No, I don't..." She replied, rubbing the back of her head.

"Well, the guest room is always free, so you're welcome to stay in here for as long as you like." Twilight said with a smile. Rain perked up slightly.

"Really? That'd be awesome!" Rain replied.

"Don't get too excited, Rain. We've been needing a few extra hooves to help with the morning cleanup..." Storm replied, receiving a giggle from Twilight and a confused look from Rain.

"I don't think it's exactly applicable to catch up on each other at this time of the night. Perhaps we should resume twenty questions tomorrow?" Storm said. As response, Rain let out a large yawn.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. My sleep schedule hasn't exactly been great these past few... Er... Years." Rain replied. This time, it was Twilight's turn to look confused.

"We'll leave you to sleep then. Come on, Twilight. We should probably get to bed soon." Storm said, trotting towards the door. Twilight obliged, trotting out of the bedroom and closing the door behind her.

"Um... Storm? What did she mean by-"

"She's been living in the abandoned castle for three years straight. I'm honestly surprised she hasn't gone insane." Storm said quickly.

"Three... Years? That's... Impossible! How could somepony-"

"She's a former Necromanecer, Twilight. She has a mind tougher than steel." Storm replied quickly, cutting Twilight off once more. The two continued in silence towards their room.

"Oh, and while we're on the subject of Rain; What exactly did she tell you when she whispered in your ear?" Storm asked. At the mere mention of the question, Twilight's cheeks lit up once more.

"Um... She was asking about the more... Intimate... Parts of our relationship..." Twilight said, looking down at the ground.

Rain had now officially earned a spot on Storm's mental wanted list.

**Well, it's a little... Okay, pretty damn short. But at least I uploaded it in the end, right?**

**...Right...?**

**Well, at least it's not a fucking cliffhanger... You're welcome, by the way. Peace.**

**-Cupzy**


	11. Pancakes II: The Empire Strikes Back

**Yup. Late. Whatevs.**

Storm was awoken by a loud yawn. And it wasn't one of those yawns that Ponies do simply because they're tired, it was one of those yawns that Ponies do intentionally to grab the attention of everypony in the room. He opened one eye slowly, glad that the nearest window wasn't pouring in the torturous sunlight. He raised his head from the pillow. The first thing he noticed was that Twilight was, surprisingly, up before he was. Twilight turned her gaze to Storm, growing a smile when they made eye contact.

"Good morning, Storm! Sorry if I woke you, I guess I'm still kinda tired." Twilight said.

"...What time is it?" Storm asked groggily, still feeling the horrible after-effects of waking up.

"I think it's about 8:00am." Twilight replied. Storm fell backwards onto his pillow in mild frustration.

"Why have you gotten up so early?" Storm asked.

"Well, I didn't know what Rain's sleeping schedule was, so I decided to get up as quick as possible in case she woke up before us." Twilight responded.

Oh yeah. Rain. Storm had almost forgotten that his only foalhood friend had taken refuge inside the giant tree that he lived in.

"Well, in that case, I'd best get up too. I don't exactly want to keep Rain waiting, do I?" Storm said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before lowering himself from the bed, trying to straighten out his mane to the best of his ability.

"Wait, if Rain in staying in the spare room, then where did Star sleep?" Storm asked.

"Oh, he told me that he just wanted to read some books, so I assume he just stayed downstairs." Twilight replied.

"Twilight, I believe you're supposed to put your foals to bed at a decent time, rather than let them stay up all night." Storm said.

"But it's for the sake of research, Storm! Don't you understand how important it is for a foal to learn?" Twilight replied.

"Of course I do. Although I'd be rather frightened if Star grew up powerful enough to overthrow Equestria." Storm said sarcastically, the thought of it make him chuckle.

"Don't be stupid. He just wants to study." Twilight replied. As she finished her sentence, a loud noise similar to that of something toppling over came from downstairs.

"What in the name of Tartarus...?" Storm muttered.

"I wonder what that was..." Twilight pondered.

"Star probably knocked a book over or something. I'll go check." Storm replied, trotting towards the door. Another large crashing sound came from downstairs as Storm came out of the bedroom.

"What is he doing down there...?" Storm asked himself. He descended to the bottom of the staircase and looked over the library. Several books were strewn across the ground, confirming Storm's previous theory. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, a Pony moved towards him with extreme speed, stopping directly in front of him. What confused Storm was why Star had suddenly decided to turn into a ball of energy.

"Hey dad! Uh... No time to talk! Gotta go!" Star said in a loud whisper before dashing off towards the kitchen.

"Star? Where are you going?" Storm asked. He was plagued with even more questions when another Pony galloped towards him.

"Rain? I never knew you were awa-"

"Yeah, yeah, that's great Storm. Hey, have you seen that foal of yours?" Rain asked quickly.

"I'm sorry, refresh me on why you're currently trying to find my foal?" Storm asked pleasantly, still not having a vague clue on what was actually happening.

"I woke up a few hours ago. Star was bored, so I asked him if he wanted to play tag." Rain said excitedly. Storm had to wonder, why Rain of all Ponies would willingly chase a foal around a library.

"I suppose you knocked over a few books while you were doing the deed, correct?" Storm asked.

"Oh, did I wake you? Sorry, I just-"

"Don't worry, Rain, you didn't wake me. I was just wondering what the cause of the disturbance was. Twilight will be downstairs in a few minutes." Storm replied quickly.

"Oh... Well, in that case, do you know where Star went? I thought I heard him come through here." Rain asked. Storm instantly saw the potential for the current situation.

"He galloped into the bathroom. I think he locked the door behind him." Storm lied, pointing his hoof towards the bathroom. Rain instantly turned tail and moved towards the bathroom. It seemed that the past few years hadn't affected her previous training in agility courses. The question still remained of how Star actually managed to avoid her in the first place. Rain started pounding her hoof on the bathroom door angrily.

"Hey, you little cheater! Get out here!" Rain shouted. Storm let loose a small chuckle.

About a half hour later, when the chaos had subsided and Storm had received a blow to the head for his apparent 'Being a spoil-sport' attitude, everypony had eventually settled to have their breakfast in the kitchen, where Rain rather suspiciously requested large quantities of pancakes for her 'nutritious' breakfast. Storm and Twilight had simply settled for a small salad and Star was eating a daisy sandwich. Spike was washing the dishes, having finished his daily dose of colorful rocks.

"So. How long have you two been together?" Rain asked. The question took Storm and Twilight by surprise. Partly due to the fact that they were astounded that Rain was still capable of speech whilst still having an incredibly large amount of pancakes stuffed into her mouth.

"Surely the presence of a foal is information enough, Rain." Storm replied.

"Oh, come on Storm, don't be so vague. I want to know how it happened! Was it one of those beautiful moments where the sun is just starting to set over the horizon, and the two of you are sitting atop a grassy hill on a picnic, where you eventually understood and recognized your love for eacho-"

"It was much more simple than that, Rain." Storm said quickly. He was worried at the fact that Rain was started to act a lot like Rarity whenever she gets into one of her 'romantic' moods.

"Aw... You two make it sound so boring..." Rain said, slumping back in her chair.

"Believe me. It's anything but boring. Apart from these past few weeks." Storm replied.

"Huh? What, has something been going on?" Rain asked.

"No. It's just that less Ponies seem to be showing up on the streets. Everypony seems to just stay in their homes. And the Ponies that I've seen wandering outside are... Different... They're a lot less talkative than they used to be. Twilight and the rest of the Elements seem to be doing fine." Storm replied.

"Sounds creepy. Then again, I suppose I haven't spoken to another Pony in the last few years." Rain said, laughing to herself. After she had finished, she noticed the awkward atmosphere she had just created in the kitchen.

"Ah... Sorry about that..." Rain said.

"It's okay, Rain... Just... How did you survive out there? With nopony to talk to?" Twilight asked with concern.

"I guess you just get used to it after a while... You don't really care about seeing anypony anymore." Rain replied slowly.

"You were the most energetic Necromanecer I've ever seen. You loved talking to other Ponies..." Storm said.

"Why didn't you just leave?" Twilight asked.

"...I didn't think that I'd fit in anywhere..." Rain replied.

"But, in reality, you had a better chance of fitting in than I did." Storm finished.

"Speaking of which... What was Storm like when he got here? because when he left, he was just his old self. Grumpy, hardheaded, empty, mean... Er... No offence Storm." Rain said, backtracking after receiving a death glare from the stallion in question.

"Well, he was a little... Odd, when I first met him... Especially due to the fact that I found him bleeding out in the Everfree forest." Twilight replied.

"R-Really...? What happened to you, Storm?" Rain asked.

"Celestia is stronger than she looks." Storm said. It didn't give much to go on, but it certainly answered the question.

"But eventually, he started to grow on me. And at one point I thought he was trying to kill me, and then... Well... You know the rest, don't you Storm?" Twilight said.

"I'll admit that I was honestly expecting Twilight to come onto me first, but-" Storm said, before receiving a sharp hoof to the back of the head. Rain giggled at the sight.

"You've clearly lightened up, that's for sure." Rain said.

"Yes, I had to adapt to talking in a less formal manner when me and Twilight were wed, fortunately, the lessons from Pinkie seemed to have worked to some extent." Storm replied, cringing as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh... Who's Pinkie?" Rain asked.

"I'll answer that question. Pinkie Pie's one of the Elements of Harmony along with my other friends. She's... Energetic... To say the least." Twilight replied.

"Speaking of Pinkie, she'll probably throw you a party when she notices that you're new here." Storm continued.

"The only party we ever had was on hearth's warming eve, and even that was only about ten minutes long..." Rain replied.

"Yes, and Pinkie's parties aren't much different, considering that you've got the same chance of being stabbed." Storm said.

"W-What do you mean...?" Rain asked.

"Storm got into a... Fight at the first Pinkie Pie party he went to. He did it to save somepony, but he was injured in the process." Twilight explained. Storm remembered that night, how the stallion was threatening the mare behind the library, how the gleam of the weapon he was holding shined in the moonlight, and the crimson blood that flowed from his wounds as he fell into unconsciousness. That was the first time Storm had risked his life for another Pony, and it was the first time when he felt the gratitude afterwards.

"That's horrible... But at least you helped somepony, right?" Rain said, receiving a nod as response.

"Speaking of the Elements, we should probably introduce Rain to the rest of them." Storm said.

"That's a good idea! We could go right now!" Twilight said enthusiastically.

"That sounds like a good idea. We should be able to get the introductions out of the way before it's time for lunch." Storm replied.

"Yeah, these Ponies seem interesting. I'd love to meet them." Rain said. Storm finished the last of his salad before yawning slightly. He followed Rain and Twilight to the front door, where he got a good look out of the window once more. Once again, the streets were empty, and the familiar chill ran up Storm's spine.

"Hey Storm! You coming?" Twilight asked. Storm snapped out of his daze before turning back to Rain and Twilight.

"Of course... Let's get going." Storm replied. Rain practically leaped out of the door, apparently happy at the prospect of meeting new Ponies.

"She's keen, isn't she?" Storm muttered.

"She's probably happy about meeting the Elements." Twilight replied.

"...The streets are empty again..." Storm said slowly.

"Storm... There's nothing wrong around here. It's just because nothing interesting has happened in these past few weeks." Twilight replied.

"I still have my doubts about that. At least we'll have Pinkie's party to liven up Ponyville." Storm said.

"Hey! Are you two coming?" Rain shouted.

"...Don't worry, Storm. I'm sure everything's fine. You're probably just getting paranoid." Twilight said humorously before trotting out of the library after Rain.

_"...I'm not paranoid..."_

**WRITING FANFICS AT 7:00AM EQUALS JOLLY GOOD FUN.**

**Peace**

**-Cupzy**


	12. Introductions

**Bit late. (Emphasis on late.) Also, anyone who can spot the reference I made in this chapter wins ten internet points. (Hint: It's a video game reference.)**

Per usual, not a Pony to be seen. At this time of the day, Ponies would be swarming the market, buying things from apples to expensive jewelry from Canterlot. Today, only a few Ponies turned up to the market. Rain looked around excitedly, staring at whatever she found interesting intently. Twilight had suggested that they take a tour around the town first, to show Rain the ropes of Ponyville.

"-And that's Sugercube Corner, it's where Pinkie Pie works and lives." Twilight explained, pointing out ant distinctive landmarks she could spot.

"It looks... Interesting." Rain said, settling on 'interesting' as a word to describe a building that resembled a large confectionery treat.

"It's mainly a cake shop, but they do a lot of other stuff. Even coffee. Especially Coffee." Twilight explained. Storm had known of Twilight's excessive coffee drinking whenever she had a session with Star. He was honestly surprised she hadn't developed some kind of addiction to the alleged 'Brown gold'. Perhaps she already had.

"In fact, why don't we start there? Pinkie should be working at this time." Twilight said, shifting her stride to Sugercube Corner. Storm didn't set hoof in the establishment unless he needed some kind of energy in the form of excessive amounts of sugar. Twilight knocked on the door a few times before coming to the realization that she was looking at a store a few seconds later. Flushing furiously, she pushed the door open, making a small bell-chime ring through the store. Storm didn't really see the point in it. Nopony was exactly going to rob a few cupcakes, were they? Not even a few seconds later, Twilight was instantly pinned to the ground by a familiar pink blur. Rain jumped back slightly, letting out a startled 'Eep!' as Pinkie started to talk uncontrollably.

"Hey Twilight, I haven't seen you in forever! Oh, you brought Storm with you! What do you want to buy? Actually you probably aren't here to buy anything, so maybe you're just here to see me or something and I guess it's kinda rude to pin you down and ask you what you want, but I just get so excited whenever one of my friends comes in to visit! Like, Rarity was here the other day and she-"

"Pinkie, calm down!" Twilight yelled, putting a hoof over Pinkie's mouth. The pink pony continued to speak through Twilight's hoof for a few more seconds until finally stopping. As Twilight released her hoof, Pinkie's eyes darted over to Storm, and then eventually-

"Oh no." Storm muttered, but it was far too late. As he finished his sentence, Pinkie had already jumped onto Rain, causing her to let out a startled yelp as the party pony pressed her face up to Rain's.

"Oh, oh! Are you new here? I love new Ponies! You know what I do with new Ponies? I throw them a party! Although, you may not like parties, but everypony else does! What's your name? Where did you come from? Are you from Canterlot? I like Canterlot! Say, you look sorta like Storm, all dull and bleak and stuff. Maybe you should-"

"Pinkie." Storm said. The pony in question quickly shifted her gaze to Storm. The same, psychopathic grin plastered on her face.

"This is Rain. She arrived in Ponyville a few days ago. Me and Twilight are introducing her to everypony." Storm explained slowly.

"Okie dokie loki! Then we can throw a big party, right?" Pinkie asked excitedly. Twilight's obsession for coffee was nothing compared to the seemingly endless ball of energy that was Pinkie Pie.

"Of course." Storm said, conceding defeat. Once Pinkie started planning a party, there was no way to stop her.

"Nice to meet you too, Pinkie." Rain said, outstretching her hoof. She was met with a powerful hoofshake, with Pinkie practically throwing her around the bakery.

"You'll get used to Pinkie eventually. She can be rather... Unpredictable at times." Storm said.

"Yeah. I can see that." Rain replied. After the initial greetings were over, Pinkie bid farewell to the trio by way of threatening to bring out her party cannon. Which, in all honesty, was something that Storm could have done without. His day was odd enough without streamers and confetti littering his coat.

"Um... What was that, exact-"

"Don't ask. That's just Pinkie being Pinkie." Storm replied quickly, effectively cutting Rain off. He brushed a few stray pieces of confetti out of his mane as Twilight led them to their next destination.

"I think we should head to the Carousel Boutique. It's only a short trot away from Sugercube Corner." Twilight said.

"The Carousel what-now?" Rain replied.

"It's a Boutique, as you may have guessed. It's owned by Rarity, the element of generosity." Storm explained. The building in question could easily be spotted from Sugercube Corner, and it only took a few minutes for them to reach the Carousel Boutique. Unfortunately not learning from her mistakes, Twilight knocked on the door a few times. The same procedure followed shortly after. The door made the familiar ringing sound as Twilight pushed it open. The alabaster fashionetta was marveling at a piece of clothing when Twilight entered the Boutique. Once eye contact was made, Rarity smiled and started moving over to Twilight.

"Twilight! I certainly haven't seen you in a while. How have you been, darling?" Rarity asked happily.

"I'm fine, Rarity. Actually, I came here to introduce you to a Pony that's just turned up to town." Twilight said, motioning to Rain.

"Hm? Is it someone new?" Rarity asked, looking at the door where Rain and Storm stood.

"Ah, Storm. It's lovely to see you again." Rarity said as she trotted to the door.

"Hi! My name's Raincloud. Nice to meet you." Rain said enthusiastically.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Raincloud. Hm... You have such... Drab colors, don't you? Oh, but you must tell me how you styled your mane, it looks positively magnificent!" Rarity exclaimed, gesturing to Rain's braided hair.

"Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Rarity, darling. A pleasure to meet you." She continued.

"Likewise." Rain replied with a grin.

"So, where are you from, darling? You certainly don't look like you're from around here." Rarity said. They say that when you make a choice, you deny ten-thousand other possibilities, Rarity appeared to have picked the worse of those ten-thousand other possibilities.

"Uh... I'm from..." Rain said, stumbling on her words as she tried to come up with a valid excuse.

"She's... A friend of Storm's." Twilight finished.

"I see. Well, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Raincloud. I hope you have a wonderful time here in Ponyville." Rarity said.

"Thanks, Rarity. I appreciate it." Rain replied happily.

"Well, I would hate to keep you waiting. I'm sure you have many other Ponies to introduce yourself to." Rarity said. After a quick goodbye, Rarity went back to examining the dress she was looking at before Twilight entered the Boutique. The trio let themselves out, leaving Rarity to her work.

"Well, she was nice." Rain said.

"Ponyville is a nice place. You'll rarely find a Pony who doesn't always have a smile on their face. Well... Apart from now, when you can't even see anypony on the streets." Storm replied.

"Speaking of that, why isn't anypony out here? It's a nice day outside." Rain said. She was partly correct. Several grey clouds were close to blocking out the sun, and it wasn't spectacularly sunny outside. But, due to Rain's upbringing, it's only natural why she would see that as a nice day.

"...I'm not sure. It's been like this for a few weeks." Storm replied.

"Oh well. Everypony's probably in bed or something. Where are we heading next?" Rain asked.

"Well, you've already met Fluttershy. And Rainbow Dash is probably at work right now. Plus, Applejack's farm is quite far away from here, so..." Twilight said, revising her options.

"Perhaps it would be better if we returned back to the library? Pinkie has already said that she plans to throw a party, per usual. So perhaps we'll see them when the time arrives?" Storm suggested.

"I suppose that would be the best option. We could probably get something to eat once we get back." Twilight replied. Storm and Rain nodded in response. The trio turned around and started heading back towards the library.

"Hey Twilight, can I ask you something?" Rain asked.

"Sure. What is it?" Twilight replied.

"Aren't we going to have to tell your friends about where I actually came from?" Rain said. Her voice had lowered in volume. Not that it mattered, considering nopony was actually on the streets.

"Well... Yes, we will. But I'm sure they'll be fine about it. They'll be shocked, of course. But they won't judge you for it." Twilight explained. Her friends had adapted to Storm well enough after the adventure within the first week of Twilight meeting him, so why would they react to Rain badly?

"That's a relief. I was getting worried for a second." Rain said.

"Everypony will get used to you faster than they did with me. Considering that you didn't trot into Ponyville whilst you were an emotionless drone." Storm replied.

"I didn't really care about being like that back in the Everfree. You were always the one who was telling me to start acting like a proper necromanecer." Rain said.

"Yes, but I've changed now, haven't I? I actually have friends now, for one thing." Storm replied.

"Yeah, well I seem to be making them faster than you did." Rain said. Back in the Everfree, whenever Rain started an argument with him, Storm would always turn around and trot away halfway through the conversation. This time, it was different.

"Well, I'm in a relationship. Have you ever accomplished such a feat?" Storm said.

"How do you know? There were plenty of stallions back in the Everfree." Rain shot back.

"You expect me to believe that any of them had any time for that. Besides, you would have come bragging to me if it ever happened." Storm replied.

"Oh yeah? Well I... Er..." Rain stumbled. Storm couldn't help but smile at his victory.

"Alright you two. We're here." Twilight said. Storm and Rain tore their gazes away from each other to see the large form of the library in front of them.

"Hm. Time simply flies when you're having 'fun'" Storm remarked.

"I don't remember leaving the lights off... Did I leave the lights off?" Twilight asked.

"I have no idea." Storm said. Although he already had a decent idea of what was about to happen. He had suffered the same fate a few years ago. He must have smiled, considering Twilight appeared to be in the same mindset he was in.

"Um... Are you two alright?" Rain asked, staring at the two smiling Ponies before her.

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing, Rain. Let's get inside." Storm replied, hiding a small smirk. Twilight rested her hoof on the door, making a small crack as she pushed it sightly. As expected, the entire library was pitch black. It reminded Storm of him trotting into Rain's room for the first time. Twilight stuck her head through the crack in the door, peeking around inside. She pushed the rest of the door open, allowing her to take a few hoofsteps into the library. Storm and Rain followed respectively. After a few seconds of waiting, a small *click* could be heard. The lights suddenly flickered on, causing Twilight and Rain to shield their eyes due to the immense sudden brightness. Storm had been smart, and had already done so prematurely. Then, the deafening sounds of Ponies shouting was heard.

"SURPRISE!" The yell resounded through the library, probably alerting the nearest building to the library to it's attention. Storm nearly collapsed when he laid eyes on Rain. She had jumped back a few hooves, her eyes widened as if she had seen Nightmare Moon herself. She let out a capped scream as she nearly topped herself over whilst trying to regain her footing. Twilight appeared to be in the same state as Storm. As he regained his composure, Storm looked ahead to see the incredibly huge crowd of Ponies that appeared every time Pinkie threw a party. Only, there was one problem;

_Only the Elements were there._

Now, if Pinkie Pie threw a party, the vast majority of Ponyville would even go as far as to leave their own workplace to attend the party. So it was considered an incredibly rare phenomenon to see that not many Ponies had actually turned up to a party. Or, in this case, almost none at all. The room went awkwardly silent as Storm surveyed the rest of the room, making sure a crowd of Ponies wasn't about to come jumping down the stairs to surprise him. He waited a few seconds before he assumed his theory was correct; There were no Ponies here apart from the Elements.

"...Where is everypony?"

**IZZAT A CLIFFHANGER? DOEZZAT COUNT AS A CLIFFHANGER? 'Cause if it does, then I better write a book on these things or something. Peace.**

**-Cupzy**


	13. Calling In Sick

***Looks at watch* Uh-Oh. Sorry, GTA V. I will be back in a moment, my sweet.**

Despite Twilight's home being a library, barely anypony actually came into the establishment. Storm assumed it had something to do with Star's birth, and how the entire library was turned into his personal archive of limitless knowledge. Or perhaps it was simply because Ponyville was illiterate. Unlikely, considering the intelligence that the residents of Ponyville had already shown. So naturally, Storm would be used to the eerie silence within the library. Except it wasn't supposed to be silent. It was a party. A Pinkie Pie party, at that. The meaning of silence had been erased from existence at these parties. Unfortunately, today seemed to be different.

"...Where is Everypony?" Storm decided to ask. His voice rang through the library in a loud echo. Storm wasn't sure if Celestia just did that for effect or if the library always echoed like that. Either way, it made the sentence sound worse than it actually was. The Elements seemed to be just as confused as Storm, Twilight and Rain. Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head nervously while Fluttershy dragged a hoof across the floor shyly. For some unknown, possibly malicious reason, Pinkie still had a psychotic grin plastered onto her face, which gave her the trademark 'Do not stand next to this Pony for more than twenty seconds' seal of approval. Storm twisted his head around, glaring at Twilight and Rain's reactions. Rain didn't actually know what to expect in the first place, so it was only natural that she looked rather disappointed. Twilight seemed to be just as perplexed as Storm was, seemingly staring around the library waiting for some kind of onslaught of colorful Ponies to jump at her any moment. A natural reaction, considering that Pinkie had pulled one of those stunts a few months ago. Storm could still hear Twilight's piercing scream ringing painfully in his ears.

Silence seemed to be the theme of the week.

Pinkie looked around, apparently only noticing that nopony had turned up to the party.

"Hm... You're right. Where is everypony?" Pinkie said. Storm resisted the addictive urge to facehoof and decided to keep his composure.

"Not much of a surprise party, is it, Pinkie?" Storm asked sarcastically.

"Not really, I guess." Pinkie replied. Another resisted facehoof.

"I don't understand. Everypony comes to a Pinkie Pie party." Twilight said.

"Apparently not this one." Storm replied.

"Well, Big Mac said he were sick." Applejack said.

"And the Cakes weren't feeling too well either." Pinkie continued.

"Yeah, I couldn't get any of the weather team to come here either. None of 'em showed up today. Scoots wasn't exactly feeling too great, either." Rainbow said.

"Yes, Sweetie Belle did seem rather under the weather when she woke up today." Rarity said. Storm was beginning to see a pattern here.

"Surely there was somepony who was feeling well enough to attend the party?" Storm asked.

"Yeah! Us!" Pinkie shouted. Three times in one day. Pinkie was on a roll.

"Apart from us, obviously. I doubt everypony is sick." Storm replied.

"It sure don't seem that way, sugercube." Applejack said. Storm hated it whenever Applejack called somepony a 'sugercube'. It sounded childish.

"Pinkie, are you sure that you didn't just forget to hand out invitations?" Storm asked. Pinkie shook her head violently.

"Nope! I sent an invitation to everypony!" Pinkie replied.

"I see... My apologies, Rain. I didn't expect this to happen." Storm said.

"It's no big deal, Storm. It wasn't your fault." Rain replied.

"Wait, wait, wait. Who's this?" Rainbow said, pointing a hoof towards Rain.

"She's the main reason that you were about to throw a party." Storm replied.

"So, what is she? Your friend, or something?" Rainbow asked.

"An old friend, yes. Her name is Raincloud. But most Ponies simply call her Rain." Storm explained. Rainbow hovered over to Rain precariously, a small hint of suspicion glinting in her eye.

"So, my name's Rainbow Dash. You've probably heard of me." Rainbow said, bearing a smug grin as she struck a pose that screamed 'I'm an egotistical maniac.' Rain shook her head slowly.

"Seriously? You've never heard of me? Sonic Rainboom? Fastest Pegasus in Equestria? Any of those ring a bell?" Rainbow asked, hovering closer to Rain's face with every question. Poor Rainbow Dash. Throughout all these years, you've never even had a chance to get into the wonderbolts. With Rain's recent culture shock, it seemed only natural that she wouldn't know who Rainbow was.

"Ah, never mind. It's nice to meet you." Rainbow said.

"Yeah, nice too meet you too." Rain said. Unbeknownst to Rainbow, Applejack seemed just as enthusiastic to meet Rain as she was. She rushed in after Rainbow finished her introduction, holding out a hoof quickly with a smile on her face. Oh, great. Rain has had a difficult day already. She could certainly go without another broken leg.

Too late.

Before the poor thing knew what was happening, Rain was being thrown up and down, slamming her body against the ground in a painful fashion. Storm had already come to the fact that the Elements had a surplus of different introduction techniques that made them slightly more dangerous than the average Pony. After the onslaught ended, Rain lifted herself from the floor, shaking her head in a confused fashion. Applejack, completely oblivious to what she had just done, remained in a stoic position with a hearty smile on her face.

"Howdy there, partner! Mah name's Applejack, a pleasure ta meet ya'll." She said enthusiastically. Thankfully not offering another hoofshake.

"Um... N-Nice to meet you, Applejack." Rain said, still dazed from her (probable) minor concussion.

"Ah've never seen ya'll around here before, but ya seem like a nice Pony." Applejack continued, still completely ignoring Rain's current state of 'nearly throwing up'. After a few seconds, Rain managed to regain her composure, deciding that questioning what just happened could be easily left out from the equation.

"Thanks, I guess." Rain replied slowly.

"Well, it certainly took some time, but we finally managed to get you introduced to the Elements." Storm said, patting Rain on the back.

"Um... 'Elements?'" Rain asked.

"Big, flashy pieces of jewelry. Containing excessive and probably dangerous amount of magical power. Notable side effects are brain-washing and turning to stone. Best to avoid." Storm explained quickly, as if he was attempting to sell the Elements off on the black market.

"Sounds... Interesting?" Rain said, not sure whether or not she should feel intrigued or terrified.

"Personally, I've only seen them in action once. And they didn't really do that much, considering that I stopped Twilight before she used them." Storm explained. Back in the mansion, Storm decided to fight The Queen honorably, meaning that he had to hold Twilight and the rest of the mares back when they tried to use the Elements. He won, of course. It wasn't exactly orthodox, or for that matter, clean, but he still won.

"But there's no time for idle chit-chat about magical artifacts. We appear to have a much bigger problem at hoof. Being that nopony appears to want to come to a Pinkie Pie party. This is unusual, as you all know. So, from this, along with the evidence to suggest that nopony was well enough to show up, we can infer that something is certainly wrong." Storm explained quickly. Everypony looked confused, mainly due to Storm analyzing the situation in about five seconds.

"I suppose that does make sense. Everypony being sick on one day certainly isn't normal." Twilight agreed.

"Surely it can't be everypony. We're all perfectly fine." Storm replied.

"Wait, what about Star?" Twilight asked worriedly.

"He's fine. He went upstairs to study or something. He's a chip off the old block." Rainbow replied. Seemingly disregarding Rainbow's statement as irreverent, Twilight instantly made a beeline for the stairs, dashing to Star's room.

"I bet it was her." Rainbow said, crossing her forelegs whilst hovering in the air.

"What was who?" Storm asked, confused. Rainbow raised a hoof and pointed it accusingly at Rain.

"Her. I bet she started this whole 'sick' thing." Rainbow repeated. All eyes in the room suddenly turned to Rain, who shrunk down as everypony eyed her suspiciously.

"Wait, wait. Hold on. How is there anything to suggest that Rain started this?" Storm asked.

"She turned up and everypony started getting sick. Seems a bit too suspicious for me." Rainbow replied.

"That's not true. Haven't you noticed Ponyville in these past few weeks? It's been quiet. Too quiet. Barely anypony ever goes outside and anypony that does go outside isn't their usual self." Storm explained.

"Hm... Now that you mention it, nopony has dropped by the Boutique lately. Many of my orders have been cancelled." Rarity said.

"And Big Mac ain't doing as much work as he used ta do." Applejack chipped in.

"Well, I guess we haven't been getting that many complaints over the grimy weather recently..." Rainbow mumbled.

"That proves it. Everypony's been sick for a while. Long before Rain appeared." Storm said.

"I... I guess you're right." Rainbow said, accepting defeat.

"And Rain didn't just appear in Ponyville. She was almost killed by a Manticore. Good thing Fluttershy was there to save her." Storm continued. Fluttershy took a few steps back and blushed slightly, hiding behind her mane.

"Oh, it was nothing, really..." She said shyly.

"Speaking of which, where did she actually come from? You don't just wander through the Everfree Forest, it's dangerous in there." Rainbow said. Storm gulped slightly, Rain's past was a tough thing to bring up. He looked over at Rain for a response, receiving a small nod as his only answer.

To be perfectly honest, it was more than enough.

"Er... Fluttershy, Rarity. I'm afraid that we haven't been entirely honest with you." Storm spoke slowly. Everypony's expressions suddenly turned into intrigue.

"Hm? Whatever do you mean, darling?" Rarity asked.

"Rain... She isn't really an old friend... Well, she is. But not back when we..." Storm said, losing his footing on the conversation.

"Oh! How mysterious!" Rarity said, seemingly slipping into one of her many fantasies.

"So... Why would you hide where Rain came from? She isn't a criminal or anything, is she?" Rainbow asked, shooting another glare at Rain.

"No! Not at all! Rain was... Well, she..." Storm mumbled, attempting to find the correct words. Rain wasn't a criminal. She never did anything terrible when she was still a Necromanecer.

"Darling, don't be afraid to tell us anything. We are your friends, after all. We would never shun you for anything, and you know that." Rarity said. It didn't help. Storm knew that the situation was going to be rather awkward when he finally spilled the beans.

"Well... Rain and I... We grew up together." Storm finally said.

Silence.

**Yeah, I felt a little piece of me shatter inside for writing that last part. Maybe it'll stop me from writing anymore of these DAMN CLIFFHANGERS. Also, sorry for the chapter being so late. But, you know how things are... GTA V. Also, I just realized that I've written about thirteen chapters worth of filler. Go me. Peace.**

**-Cupzy**


	14. How Did We Not Notice This?

**GTA V online. I'm getting a lot of cannon fodder in the form of excuses, aren't I?**

Awkward silences appeared to be the theme of the day. Except this silence wasn't very awkward, but more of a 'I've just spilled the beans all over your nice carpet' kind of silence.

"...Uh... Storm? weren't ya'll...?" Applejack started.

"Raised in the Everfree? Yes. I was." Storm finished. He could feel small beads of sweat starting to run down his forehead. He had no clue how anypony would react to Rain having the same upbringing as Storm.

"So, you're implying that Rain is one of those Banished characters?" Rarity asked. Her voice was unsettled, much like the atmosphere of the room. Celestia owed Storm big time for this.

"If you're willing to believe that, then yes." Storm said. He didn't want to go into a speech about Rain. He could practically feel everypony's eyes on him.

"So this is what you meant by Rain being an old friend?" Rainbow Dash asked. Her doubt of Rain was still evident in her voice.

"Well, back when I was still a colt, I viewed her more as a nuisance. She was always so carefree and happy..." Storm replied. He felt like a hypocrite speaking those words. He had learned the value of those feelings years ago. He barely remembered the Pony that he used to be.

"I thought all of those banished Ponies were supposed to be really boring people." R.D said, hovering slightly above Storm.

"Some of us were more emotionally powerful than the rest. Rain happened to be one of them." Storm explained.

"But when the royal guard stormed that mansion place, didn't they-"

"Kill all of them? Yes, they did. I don't know all the details, but I can only assume that Rain hid somewhere." Storm explained. The incident with the royal guard had gone down as a moment that everypony should be better off forgetting. Nearly every necromanecer in the mansion was killed, with the exception of Rain. Storm didn't see any of it. He was at the main source of the problem at the time. He had heard that almost half of the royal guard went into therapy after the incident, ashamed of what they had done. No bodies were buried, and the decayed bodies of every necromanecer that was killed that day still remain next to the mansion. Only one body was buried, and it happened to be The Queen. Storm took it upon himself to bury the body in the Everfree Forest, away from the mansion. He had shown Star the grave a few months ago. He didn't say who it was that was buried beneath the dirt. He only described The Queen as 'somepony who was special to him.' Next to the grave lay Storm's old longsword, which he discarded shortly after the battle.

He wasn't sure why he buried The Queen. Perhaps it was pure sympathy for her after she had perished. Storm still remembered the final moments of The Queen's life as if it happened the day before, watching her shed a pure black tear before the final blow was delivered. Perhaps Storm buried her because he wanted her to be at peace. He could only imagine some kind of dark backstory behind The Queen that led her to creating the Banished.

Storm had nearly forgotten what the Banished was created for when he first started to go rogue. Created after the reign of Discord to act as a rebellion to the old ways when Celestia and Luna came to power, bent on keeping the destructive chaos that described Discord's rule in balance by way of sheer violence. The cult was ironically Banished to the Everfree Forest in an attempt to keep them from doing any more harm to Equestria, leading them to gather their power until they were prepared to strike once more. Storm snapped out of his daze when he realized that R.D was trying to speak to him.

"Pardon me?" Storm asked, missing the sentence entirely.

"I was saying how lucky she must have been to survive the attack." R.D repeated

"She's smart. I doubt she would have joined even if somepony ordered her to." Storm replied.

"Storm... Why did you try to hide this from us?" Rarity interjected. Storm couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt run through his mind when he heard that.

"I never knew what your reactions were going to be. And frankly, I was afraid that they would be negative." Storm replied honestly.

"Storm, how many times must we tell you this? We're your friends, and we'd never put you down for anything." R.D chipped in. Storm simply remained silent.

"I'm sure he understands, Rainbow." Rarity said.

"We shouldn't dwindle on this for too long. We have a much larger problem to attend to." Storm spoke.

"Problem, what do you mea-... Oh, you mean the 'Everypony's sick' thing?" R.D said. Storm nodded.

"I now understand why the town has been quiet these past few weeks." Storm replied.

"I don't get it, how doesn't Celestia know about this?" R.D asked.

"I doubt anypony has reported anything unusual. What, with being sick and all. And we simply viewed it as a normal occurrence." Storm replied. As he finished speaking, Star and Twilight trotted downstairs.

"Sorry for the wait, everypony, I just-" Twilight said. She cut her sentence off as she examined the scene in front of her. Everypony didn't exactly seem to be in the best of moods. Storm trotted to Twilight's side and leaned into her ear.

"I told everypony about Rain." He whispered. Twilight nodded in response.

"We're currently addressing the subject of 'everypony appears to be sick' right now." He continued.

"Shouldn't Celestia know about this?" Twilight asked.

"Rainbow Dash has already mentioned that. It would probably be for the best if you could send a letter to Celestia informing her of the situation." Storm replied. Twilight nodded before making her way to Spike, who had already taken the liberty of procuring a scroll and quill.

"What do ya think about this, Storm?" Applejack asked.

"Honestly, I've no clue. Perhaps it's simply some kind of potent illness spreading through Ponyville. Although, that doesn't answer the question of why we aren't feeling sick in any way whatsoever." Storm replied. Dangerous illnesses were rare in Equestria. The nearest threat of illness to Ponyville were the poison jokes that lay in the Everfree Forest. And even their effects could be classified as a cruel prank rather than an illness. Colds were treated nearly instantly, and other types of illnesses seemed to simply avoid Ponyville altogether. Some type of 'new illness' seemed rather unlikely. And not only that, but an illness that forced the victim to remain inside for most of the day.

_"Now that I think about it, a lot of Ponies haven't been their usual selves these past few weeks. The most important question is how this 'illness' was practically invisible, soaring over my head as if it was nothing. I hadn't even thought about pursuing the 'everypony's really dull and boring' case when it first came to be..."  
_Storm thought to himself. He let out a large sigh, whatever the problem was, he certainly wasn't going to get any answers by simply standing around all day. As he finished his thought process, Twilight trotted back to his side.

"I sent the letter to the Princess. Hopefully she'll get back to us soon." She said.

"Good to know. I'm honestly surprised any of us didn't notice this sooner." Storm replied, hanging his head low.

"Well... Ignorance is bliss, right?" Twilight said with a small smile.

"I believe that only works on foals, Twilight." Storm said. Twilight let out a short giggle.

"I'll tell you when I get the reply from the Princess." She said.

"I do hope she reaches us soon... Perhaps I should take a look outside, see if I can meet anypony that I can communicate with." Storm said. Going outside didn't seem like the best of ideas at this point, but checking on the residents isn't a crime.

"Alright. Don't go catching anything." Twilight said playfully. Storm trotted towards the front door, pushing it open and covering his eyes with his foreleg when the sun's rays hit his eyes. After the pain in his retinas subsided, Storm surveyed the surrounding area for any signs of Ponies. Per usual, nopony walked the town as if the dirt they trotted on was made of lava and sharpened needles.

"Perhaps I should head to the town square. If I have a chance of meeting anypony today, it'll be there." Storm mused to himself. He started making his way towards the center of Ponyville, keeping a keen eye out for any Ponies along the way. As expected, the town was essentially deserted. Storm could see the silhouettes of Ponies behind closed curtains whenever he looked at a house.

Eventually, lo and behold, Storm managed to spot the image of a Pony turning a corner towards him. The Pony looked... Disorientated, to say the very least. Every step the Pony took seemed to trudge along, barely making a straight trot cycle. The Pony's coat was a sickly light green color. Her mane and tail were similar colors, with a slightly tinted white streak running through either one. The Pony barely paid Storm any heed, simply staring blankly at him for a few seconds before continuing her slow trot.

"Er... Excuse me?" Storm asked cautiously. The Pony was a Unicorn mare, Storm had sworn he had seen her somewhere before.

"...Huh...? Oh, hey." The Unicorn said groggily.

"Are... Are you alright?" Storm asked. He felt incredibly stupid for asking that question seconds later.

"Huh? Oh yeah, just great." The Unicorn said. Storm wasn't sure if it was sarcasm or not.

"Er... I apologize, my name is Shadow Storm. I do believe I've seen you somewhere before." Storm said.

"Seen me before? My name's Lyra Heartstrings." She replied. Storm recognized the name nearly instantly. As far as he could remember, Lyra had played a small part in the disaster that was the wedding of Shining Armor, being one of the three bridesmaids that was bewitched by Queen Chrysalis.

"What did you say your name was again...?" Lyra asked.

"Shadow Storm. Or simply 'Storm' for short." He replied. Lyra stopped for a moment, apparently regaining conscious thought for a few seconds. She stared at Storm blankly for a few seconds, as if to analyze his personality.

"Yeah... Uh... Nice to meet you, Shadow Storm." Lyra said slowly. Her voice, for once, was without the groggy undertone that accompanied her previous speech.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I was simply investigating the illness that appears to have spread over Ponyville in recent weeks. I don't mean to impose, but you do appear rather sick, Miss Heartstrings." Storm said.

"Illness...? I have no clue what you're talking about. I feel perfectly fine..." Lyra spoke slowly. Storm would have believed her, were it not for the body language, speech impediment, posture, poor trot cycle and awful complexion that suggested the complete opposite.

"Are you sure? You do seem rather under the weather." Storm pursued.

"...I'm fine... Nopony's sick. Everypony's just going on with their daily lives..." Lyra said, motioning over to a random spot of the town square, where nopony stood. No matter how much he encouraged himself, Storm could tell that he wasn't going to get much information from Lyra.

"Well, it was a pleasure to speak to you, Miss Heartstrings, but I must be going." Storm said. Lyra didn't respond, but instead just stared for a few seconds before shrugging and trotting off.

_"I'd imagine the letter has found it's way back to Twilight. I better head back to the library." _Storm thought. He turned towards the direction of the library and started to trot towards it. Halfway through his trip back to his home, a large pressure suddenly built up in his throat, causing him to stop for a few seconds to cough a few times.

"Pardon me... I must have swallowed something in the air..." Storm said to himself. He let out another minor cough before continuing his way back to the library.

**NO CLIFFHANGER! MAN, I SHOULD GET A MEDAL OR SOMETHING. That's going to be my excuse for this chapter being late, I was constantly telling my brain to stop making cliffhangers, thus having to delete sections of this chapter, which in turn made this chapter much harder to create. Yeah, that sounds like a pretty plausible excuse.**


	15. Artifacts Of The Past

**I AM A PRODUCTIVE HUMAN BEING**

"That's impossible."

"If it's impossible, then how did it happen?"

"So it just popped in out of nowhere?"

"Do you have a more reasonable explanation?"

Storm smacked his hoof onto his face, letting out a loud sigh. He had just returned to the library, where Twilight had received a reply to the letter she had sent the Princess. Addressing the situation instantly, Celestia insisted that she visit Ponyville to investigate the illness that plagued the town. Storm started to question the origins of the illness, wondering how it came to be. An illness couldn't simply appear from thin air. Some kind of warning or obvious signs of it approaching should have been noted.

"I don't. It just seems rather idiotic to assume that this simply flew over our heads." Storm replied. Twilight appeared to think otherwise, insisting that there must have been some sort of warning that they simply didn't get.

"Well, we're not getting anywhere until the Princess arrives." Twilight said.

"You're the one that suggested she should stay in Canterlot for her own safety." Storm replied.

"But what if she caught the illness? Equestria would descend into panic!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Twilight, the Princess is near-immortal, I doubt a simple illness could affect her." Storm replied.

"You call THAT simple!? It could be deadly!" Twilight shouted, pointing to a window.

"If we haven't been inflicted, then I'm sure the Princess will be fine. Also, I doubt that the virus is deadly. Just very disorienting to the victims." Storm explained. It was a half-lie. He only had the responses from Lyra to work with, and she seemed as if she was in denial about the whole thing.

"Don't you understand how dangerous this could become!?" Twilight shouted. It was true that the illness did have a dangerous effect, but if it stayed in Ponyville for the duration of a few weeks, then it was highly unlikely that it would spread to more towns.

"Twilight, everything's going to be fine. Celestia will come here and find a solution." Storm said.

"But what happens if..." Twilight said, trailing off, apparently lacking an answer.

"Look... I'm sorry, Storm. I'm just getting stressed out over this." Twilight said, lowering her head.

"There's no need to apologize, Twilight. I'm stressed out too. But all we can do at this point is wait for the Princess to appear." Storm replied. The entire ordeal was getting stressful. Storm let out a long sigh before turning his attention to the window, slowly trotting over to it to get a better insight into when the Princess was arriving. The town looked dead, per usual. Any wandering traveler could easily identify it as a ghost town by this point. That was assuming you didn't read the big sign that read 'Ponyville' which would probably give you an idea of how many ponies actually lived there.

"I'm going to go see Star, maybe try to explain what's going on to him." Twilight said.

"Try avoiding using the words 'Everypony's going to die' and I think it'll be fine." Storm replied. Not knowing whether or not to take it as a sarcastic comment, Twilight let out a nervous laugh before slowly ascending the stairs, leaving Storm staring out the window. As the minutes passed, Storm felt his throat tighten up slightly, forcing him to cough a few times to relieve some ragged breaths.

"Hm. I suppose I haven't had much to drink lately." Storm said to himself. As he finished his sentence, he felt somepony poking his side, prompting him to turn around to face the offending Pony. In front of him stood the ever-smiling face of Rain.

"Hey Storm! What're you doing?" She asked happily. How she managed to retain a good mental state with the current affairs was beyond Storm's comprehension.

"I'm watching for the Princess showing up. Hopefully, she'll appear soon." Storm replied, returning his gaze to the window.

"So I get to meet the Princess, huh?" Rain asked.

"Yes. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you. As a matter of fact, she's probably very interested in how you got here in the first place." Storm replied.

"So I have to re-tell the story that I just told everypony a hundred times? How boring..." Rain muttered to herself.

"I'm sorry that your introductions to the town haven't been spectacular. Half of them appear to have more pressing matters at hoof, after all." Storm replied.

"Hey, it's no problem. Anything's better than sitting in that mansion all day. Gets lonely, you know?" Rain said.

"...I'd never imagine somepony as hyperactive as you to ever get lonely." Storm replied.

"Well, you've gotta have somepony to talk to, right?" Rain said.

"I suppose. But that situation is over now. I'm assuming that you won't be returning there at any point?" Storm asked.

"You think I'd go back to a dump like that? The floor's better than staying in there." Rain replied. Storm let out a dry chuckle, before the urge to cough arose once again. He let out a few husky coughs before wiping his mouth with his hoof.

"You feeling alright?" Rain asked.

"Yes. Fine." Storm replied.

"Fair enough." Rain said.

"Back on the subject of royalty, won't the entire situation be kinda awkward?" Rain asked.

"Awkward? How would that happen, exactly?" Storm replied.

"Well, I'm one of the last members of a cult that nearly doomed Equestria..." Rain deadpanned.

"Well, when you put it into that sort of context..." Storm said. Rain started to look worried.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. Celestia is quite possibly the friendliest pony in Equestria. I doubt that she'll hold a grudge." Storm said.

"I guess not. Hopefully this whole situation will just blow over and we can get back to our lives." Rain said.

"Well, I can, at the very least. Yours is yet to begin." Storm said. He suddenly had an aura of 'wise old pony' radiating from him. It felt awkward, to say the least. Rain let out a short giggle at the sentence.

"Wow. That was deep. Even for you, Storm." Rain said.

"Well, it is true, after all. Perhaps you'll lead a life as good as mine in due time." Storm said.

"Yeah, because you can imagine me being tied down with foals, can't you?" Rain replied.

"Well, if it can happen to me..." Storm said, breaking eye contact with Rain. He was met with a weak hoof to the face in response.

"You can be really cruel sometimes, you know that?" Rain said jokingly.

"Well, I was always better than you in that department, wasn't I?" Storm said slyly. Another slap.

"Yeah, right! You just got lucky! I won a decent amount of fights against you, didn't I?" Rain asked competitively.

"Well, 'A decent amount' isn't the majority, is it?" Storm replied.

"Well, at least I fought fairly. You were always throwing dust into my eyes to stun me." Rain said.

"A fair tactic. Perhaps you should have employed it, too." Storm replied.

"Well, for what you had in strength, you certainly lacked in social skills." Rain said.

"A fair trade. But I've fixed that now, haven't I?" Storm replied.

"Yeah, but you don't fight anymore, do you? So you've started to lack in that department." Rain replied.

"I... I'm sure my combat skills remain satisfactory." Storm said hesitantly. He couldn't remember the last time he had a scuffle with anypony. He couldn't have gotten rusty, right? Rain let out a competitive smirk before replying.

"But I could probably beat you now, couldn't I?" Rain asked.

"...Possibly." Storm replied.

"Ah, so you admit it?" Rain asked. Storm felt conflicted. He couldn't exactly tell.

"...I will only admit it when the evidence is present." Storm replied.

"Well, why don't we see for ourselves?" Rain asked.

"Are you trying to tell me something, Raincloud?" Storm asked.

"Oh, you know... I might be." Rain replied. Storm shook his head firmly.

"I don't fight anymore, Rain. My skills might have gotten rusty, but I'm not about to prove it to you by knocking you to the floor. It would be embarassing for you, not to mention nostalgic." Storm said. Rain let out a groan.

"Aw, you're no fun. Maybe we can do it some other time." Rain said.

"...Perhaps." Storm replied.

"While we're on the subject of fighting, where's your longsword?" Rain asked. Storm took a few seconds to respond.

"I... Lost it." Storm said. He mentally slapped himself for giving such a pitiful excuse.

"Seriously? That's the best you can come up with? I can see it in your eyes. You're lying. Where'd you put it?" Rain pursued. It seemed as if she wasn't about to stop inquiring until she knew the truth.

"...I buried The Queen." Storm said slowly. Well, it was a start, at the very least.

"You... Buried her?" Rain asked. Storm nodded.

"Yes. And when I was finished, I put my longsword behind her grave. I swore to never use it for violent purposes again. Too many deaths had already been caused. And personally, I felt the sword would be cursed and corrupted from The Queen's blood, even if such things are impossible. I suppose my moral compass and superstition made me never return to the grave. Even if I did need it, the sword is likely un-repairable by this point." Storm explained. The room went quiet for a few seconds. Rain stared down at the ground, probably thinking about how she could react to the situation. Storm treasured the sword, but he felt that it was simply a liability by the end of that fateful day. After a few moments, Rain raised her head and looked directly at Storm. He was worried that Rain was going to knock him out on the spot. He was surprised when Rain suddenly drew a large grin.

"Ah, no worries. We'll just have to go get it, won't we?" Rain said.

"Weren't you listening to what I said? The sword is-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, can't be repaired. Don't you remember that it was made of the finest materials available to the banished? If that was true, then the sword will be damaged, but we'll still be able to repair it, won't we?" Rain asked. Storm thought about it for a moment. The sword wasn't a natural sword, if anything. It was clearly made out of something stronger than steel. Perhaps the sword could be salvageable.

"And how do you propose that we go about this? I certainly can't remember where I buried The Queen." Storm replied.

"Well, it must be close to the mansion, right? You couldn't have been stupid enough to go deep into the Everfree Forest to bury her. You probably would have been eaten by a Hydra when you were digging the grave. So it's definitely somewhere close to it." Rain deduced. Storm recalled that he didn't travel too far away from the mansion to bury The Queen, but it was far enough away so that nobody could naturally stumble across it.

"...I still have some doubts, but if what you're saying is correct, then-"

**Yeah, I was teleported to a world where two days had turned into three weeks, so I can be excused. **

"Hey! Look outside!" Rain shouted. Storm was startled by the sudden outbreak, but eventually turned his head to the window that Rain was pointing to. Nothing was wrong with the town, but the sky was a completely different story. As Storm focused his eyesight, he could see the object that he was searching for when he first started talking to Rain. A large and golden chariot was gliding majestically through the wind, pulled by two Pegasi guards that were clearly of high ranking in the royal guard. Perched on the inside of the chariot was Equestria's own Princess Celestia. It was too far away for Storm to actually point out any details.

"Well. I suppose we'd best postpone this conversation for later. We wouldn't exactly want to keep royalty waiting, now would we?" Storm said.


End file.
